


Sheild

by Emily_F6



Category: Twilight Series - Stephenie Meyer
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-09-28
Updated: 2015-06-25
Packaged: 2018-02-19 02:58:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 12
Words: 46,336
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2371967
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Emily_F6/pseuds/Emily_F6
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sequel to People Will Talk: As Bella and Edward prepare for their first semester of college together, not to mention their wedding, Bella works to control her newborn thirst and learns what it means to be a member of the Cullen family. Meanwhile, her strange gift continues to baffle her family, and it may take an unexpected visit from an old friend to help her learn to control it.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Bella

I held my breath, keeping as still as my new body would allow, making sure to stay downwind of the scent of the one I was hiding from. But he was close…and getting closer. I shifted, moving behind the tree slowly, and chanced a sniff. He was getting closer, and once he caught sight of me, I was done for. I was the last one left…he'd gotten the rest of my family. The wind shifted and I contemplated climbing up in the tree…but he was good. He'd probably see that. My only hope was to wait until he moved on and then run in the opposite direction. I inhaled almost silently. I was getting better at that, analyzing scents, learning where things and people were without looking. Vampire senses took a while to get used to, but I was learning. Jasper had been teaching me just the day before, helping me out and training me. I was still a bad fighter…he said that, like many newborns, I went for the easy kill, and could be easily outsmarted, so I'd shoved him out of the tree. He'd laughed, catching himself easily and promising that he wasn't trying to insult me.

The footsteps faded and I reminded myself of the situation at hand. 'Stay or go, stay or go…' I had to make a decision…fast. I was the last one left. Even Edward hadn't made it. I pivoted, placing my hands on the tree, and got ready to climb, telling myself that I could use the trees to get me away, and hopefully he'd give up soon. I would have to wait him out…even the house wasn't safe. I lifted myself, moving silently and carefully, being patient as I let my instincts take over. I could climb a tree with no problem, but doing it silently…well that took getting used to. But I was doing well. I made it to the lowest branch and hoisted myself up easily, staring down at him with a feral grin. He was moving away from me, his sharp eyes going back and forth across the clearing, his senses obviously on high alert. I took a step back, still silent, and looked over at the tree behind me. All I had to do was step…the trees were so close together here, and I was grateful for a moment before moving back, making my way through the thick foliage, avoiding touching the leaves as much as I could. I just had to stay upwind…Jasper had taught me that too. It applied to hunting and…well this situation as well. If he couldn't smell me or see me, then maybe I could get away…and then what? Wait him out, I reminded myself, forcing myself to be patient and wait for him to get a little further away.

He lifted his nose to the air, turning in my direction, but not looking up, and then began walking back to the tree where I perched. I held my breath once more, freezing into a statue, then told myself to move, getting as far away as I could. 'Higher.' I told myself firmly. 'Higher and further away!' I climbed upward, making no noise as I pulled myself higher, climbing the tree easily until I ran out of tree, perched above the foliage. I could see the roof of our home in the distance and felt a pang of regret. 'If only the house was safe! I'd be fine…but it's not.' I glanced around, then leapt from the tree I stood in to another, easily maneuvering and making no noise.

My newborn speed had gotten me further away than any of the others. Edward might have gotten away, but he'd gone after my fiancé first. I hadn't looked back, knowing that my only chance would be to get as far away as possible, and I'd been on my way to the heart of the swamp when he'd come along. If I could just get a little deeper into the swamp…there the smells were nearly overwhelming, animals and plants and water to cover our tracks…wash away the scent. I hardened my resolve. If I could get to the swamp, I decided, I would be safe.

I moved faster, taking a chance that he was far enough away that he wouldn't see the trees move or hear me. I could probably outrun him, but I didn't want to chance it. He'd proven himself excellent at outsmarting people. The trees thinned out a little, but if I could find a good hiding spot in a place he wouldn't think to look, then I might have a chance. I slipped down the tree when the water came into sight, looking around just in case. He was nowhere to be seen, and I couldn't smell him anywhere nearby. I landed in the water with a quiet splash that could have belonged to a deer or even a fox or wildcat. These swamps were full of animals. I hurried through the water, looking around, then crouched in a bush, backing into more foliage, my eyes open and ears alert for any sign of…footsteps. I heard them approach and felt worry start to overcome me.

I'd backed myself into a corner…if he got closer, if he picked up my scent, he'd scour the area…I berated myself for thinking he wouldn't come here. What was I supposed to do? I heard him come closer and panicked, jumping up and making a run for it. I needed to get further away…the footsteps were behind me now, not catching up but tailing me, letting me know that he saw me, that he had all but caught me. If he managed to get a hold of me, I had no chance. I couldn't fight to save my life! I ran faster, using my strength as I dodged through the swamp, splashing loudly in some places where the water was deeper. I made a sharp turn, trying to lose him again, but he tailed me easily, his footsteps growing closer, and I leaped, reaching for a tree branch and pulling myself up as quickly as I could, racing through the trees like a monkey, swinging from branch to branch as I turned corners and changed heights, hoping to lose him, and after climbing to the top of one of the taller trees, I stayed absolutely still. I couldn't hear him anymore.

I leaned my head back, letting myself exhale marginally, finally relaxing a little. 'Okay, again. I just have to stay here…or find a better hiding spot, and then….' My thoughts were cut off when I heard a loud snarl, and someone was tackling me. I hit the ground first, and although it didn't really hurt at all, I cried out, twisting and fighting his hands. 'Get away get away get away!' I told myself over and over, trying to use my strength, but teeth brushed against my neck, a low growl coming from the man pinning me to the ground, and I went completely still.

"Gotcha."

I sighed, my arms going limp at my sides while my brother chuckled, climbing off of me. "I win." He announced cheerfully, and I rolled my eyes.

"I almost got away!" I argued, sitting up, and he snorted.

"Yeah right. I had you right where I wanted you." I pouted, scrunching my nose, and he put an arm around me. "You did really well. Better than anyone else." He admitted softly, his hand on my back, and I smiled at him.

"Who did you get first?"

"Edward, but he can't be it, so Emmett's next." I nodded, just glad it wasn't me. I'd spent the last four hours hiding just so I didn't have to be it again. When we'd played our first game in our new home, as the newest member, I was declared to be it. So feeling like the new kid in preschool, I'd stood in the house, my eyes closed as I counted, my nose in a corner. Finally, after reaching twenty, I'd scoured the area, trying to make my new senses work for me, but my siblings had years of experience, and I'd been overwhelmed by the new smells. It had been a full two hours before I'd caught Edward's scent, the most familiar to me, and had raced through the swamp, feeling more like a bloodhound than a vampire as I tracked him. However, I'd been proud of myself when I'd caught sight of him in a tree, easily overtaking him with my strength, and he'd chuckled as I'd celebrated, after pinning him to the ground of course, my lips against his neck as he'd wrapped his arms around me.

"Bella, you still have to catch everyone else." He'd told me, laughing. "I can't be it anyway." He'd reminded me, pointing to his head, and I'd groaned, dropping down on his chest in the circle of his arms. "Good luck." After a quick kiss, he'd gone back to the house. After an incident that Esme referred to as 'the time Emmett and Edward destroyed an entire house,' we were forbidden from playing in the house, especially not hide and seek or wrestling, so it was out of bounds. She had allowed them to hide on the roof…before Emmett had tackled Alice and sent them all the way down to the first floor. Therefore, it was only used as a waiting area. Helping was also not allowed. They had a whole different game for that, apparently.

I'd found Emmett next. He wasn't great at the game, but he was strong enough to get away if he was caught. They'd explained to me that in order to be out, the other person's teeth had to touch their throat. Of course, as they'd demonstrated when Emmett had tackled me in order to give me some first hand experience, we never actually bit one another. Still, it had been frightening for a second when I'd looked up to see my giant brother on top of me, his teeth at my neck. But I had a feeling Emmett had been gentle with me. After I'd tackled him, finding him hiding in the moor by some bushes, he'd gone down pretty easily, giving in when I'd gotten close to his throat. I hadn't had much training in fighting, and only the guys were really rough with one another when playing.

The expansive moors and swamps on our property were an excellent playground, and as I'd learned while living with my family as one of them, they loved to play together. Baseball. Soccer. Tennis. All extreme versions of course. But one of my favorites was hide and seek. While Carlisle and Esme sometimes played, they'd opted out today. Carlisle was arranging for Charlie to come visit, and Angela as well. Alice wanted to have the wedding as soon as possible, but I wanted to wait for Charlie and Angela to arrive. I was sure Charlie would bring Sue and Leah and Seth, and they could all be there as well….honestly that sounded better than a big wedding. It would just be my closest friends and family, and I was fine with that.

"I didn't think you'd ever catch her!" Emmett grinned from the porch. Edward smiled as well, flashing over to my side and kissing my cheek.

"She's good." Jasper agreed easily, releasing me to Edward, and sitting beside Alice. "Again? Emmett, you're it."

"Nah." Emmett wasn't as big of a fan of this game as I, preferring games that allowed him to use his massive strength. We would often drop games and pick them up later, as I'd learned in the last week. Nights were fairly boring, and even with our hobbies and personal pursuits, we still had plenty of free time. Esme was spending most of her time with the blueprints for the house, deciding what she wanted to do with the outer walls…if she wanted to install glass like she had with the last one, or if she wanted to keep it in the original style. Carlisle helped her, since he didn't start his new job here for a week or two. He was still going to be a doctor at a local hospital, but he was also teaching at the University that Edward and I would attend…soon. Actually, I hadn't done much work on my own control. After the events of the last month, Carlisle wanted me to take it easy…for all of us to, thus the abundant free time to teach me all the games they loved to play. "Wanna spar?" Jasper grinned, nodding, and I could tell that Edward did too. I wasn't a fan. My more experienced brothers could pin me in a second, even with my strength, although Rosalie and Alice were just as dangerous, but Edward always let me win, not wanting to risk hurting me even if I was a lot stronger now.

"Go ahead. I'm going to go find Carlie." I told him, kissing him quickly, then heading inside while they all ran off to find a clearing far enough away from the house that they wouldn't accidently destroy anything or worry Esme.

"Looks like he found you." Our mother said with a smile, glancing up from where she and Carlisle were looking at some blueprints in the kitchen. I nodded, joining them. Her arm went around me, and Carlisle smiled at me gently. "You're getting better." I looked down at the blueprints sheepishly, but she was right…I could feel it. My senses were getting easier to cope with, and I could focus much more easily. I wondered if these games had anything to do with that…training me to gain some control over my new body.

"Would you like to help?" Carlisle wondered, gesturing for me to come closer, and I nodded, moving between them. His lips pressed against my hair as he pulled me to his side for a moment.

"I don't know anything about architecture." I told him with a rueful smile, starting to back away, but he took my hand.

"Here. Let us show you."

Edward

Jasper grinned at me, the invitation clear in his mind. He wasn't going to attack first. He wanted me to come at him. I hesitated, feigning left, then right, taking a step forward and two back, trying to circle, moving away…anything to get him to come forward. His thoughts were racing, trying to keep me from guessing his next move, and I tried to focus on my own plan of attack, not wanting to rely on my talent to beat him. The others watched, chuckling when Jasper growled a little in frustration at me. Alice was laughing under her breath, and I tried to tune them all out while I watched my brother.

We'd spent the last week moving in and teaching Bella to be more comfortable as a vampire. She took to it pretty well, and immediately we could all tell that she loved being included in our games. And I loved it when she played, as did the rest of my family. Jasper especially enjoyed spending time with her, her elated mood rubbing off on him more easily than with the rest of us. But there was nothing I loved more than spending the days with her…just the two of us, running through the forest, her eyes lighting up as we would race and play like children, sometimes falling into the marshes and ponds, coming home after dark, our clothes and hair dripping wet, our clothes ruined.

I'd found a spot in the marshes, almost at the edge of the property that reminded me of our meadow back in Forks. I'd left Bella at home with the others, searching all over the property before I'd found the perfect spot, and then I'd rushed home, finding Bella curled up on the sofa with Carlie, her lips on the puppy's head. Jasper had been on her other side, rubbing Carlie's back gently, and every once in a while, she would whirl around, playfully nipping at him. Bella smiled when I entered the house, her eyes lighting up as I came into view, and for a moment, I'd paused, just looking at her.

She was my Bella…the same beautiful woman, the same sweet, gentle soul…but now she was strong like me, and I couldn't have been happier that she could now really be with my family, playing and enjoying time with us. And hunting together…I'd never quite understood the special appeal of hunting with a mate, but every time we went out to hunt together, I understood more and more until I regretted insisting we wait for the wedding. Once, in the middle of a hunt as she'd sunk her teeth into the throat of a wildcat, I'd nearly jumped her, and it had taken a moment for me to remember why a wedding was important. It only got harder from there, and when the cat had ripped her shirt, I'd groaned aloud, making her give me a questioning look as she'd drank from the cat.

"Edward?" I'd been surprised to find myself still standing in the doorway, staring at her. Jasper chuckled softly, pulling Carlie into his arms and gesture for us to go do whatever it was I wanted to. Laughing, Bella had flashed to my side, putting a hand on my cheek. "What are you doing?" She'd asked with a soft laugh, and I'd smiled, placing my hands over hers on my face, taking a moment to feel the soft warmth of her skin.

I was torn from my thoughts when I was nearly tackled…I leapt out of the way, spinning and bearing my teeth with an involuntary growl. My siblings and I couldn't help the noises…we would often growl and hiss at one another when playing or when upset. The first time Bella had growled at Jasper as he'd gone to attack her when they were sparring, she'd frozen in horror, and he'd barely stopped himself in time before actually biting her as he'd thrown her to the ground, landing on top of her heavily.

There had been a tense moment when all I'd seen was a vampire with his teeth against my mate's throat, her eyes still wide with shock and horror, and Emmett had grabbed me before I could attack my brother. Since then, she'd learned that these were just playful noises, involuntary and never meant as an actual threat. When we were angry, that's when the noises became hostile.

Jasper lunged at me again, obviously taking note of my distraction, and I ducked easily, this time paying more attention to our game. Emmett chuckled, noticing my distraction, and even Alice smiled a little. "Come on Jasper! No one's beaten him in years!" Emmett yelled.

"Bella did." Alice pointed out, but Emmett snorted.

"You know that's just because he won't fight her!" He argued. I forced myself to focus on the fight, jumping forward and pulling away at the last minute, almost catching Jasper off guard. He spun around, following me with his eyes, crouching and bearing his teeth. Suddenly, a thought flashed in Emmett's mind, and I barely jumped out of the way in time to dodge him, focused as I was on Jasper coming at me.  
"Hey!" I cried, backing away from the two of them.

"Oh come on. This is never going to end, and it's more fair this way." Emmett reasoned, giving Jasper a conspiratory grin. Rosalie laughed aloud, and I glanced over to find she and Alice lounging on the ground wearing matching smiles as they watched their mates come after me. They lunged at the same time, and I twisted away, slipping between them and grabbing Emmett's arm. He snarled, but I managed to yank him, shoving him on the ground, but before my teeth could touch his neck, Jasper went for mine. I leapt off of him, jumping away. We'd all been sparring for nearly an hour now, and I was ready to get back to Bella, but I wasn't about to give up. I had too much pride for that!

Jasper lunged once more, this time getting closer, and I cursed silently in frustration when I was, once more, prevented from getting Emmett. And then Emmett had my arms. I snarled, trying to twist out of his grip, and Jasper chuckled, stalking forward. They were savoring their little victory. I growled irritably, wishing we'd been more specific about the rules, when suddenly, there was a quiet snarl, and a blur emerged from the woods, tackling Jasper. Recognizing the form immediately, I used the distraction to slam my head back into Emmett's, kicking at his knee with my heel, and then spinning, my teeth against his neck

"I got you!" Bella was sitting triumphantly on top of Jasper's stomach, and she'd obviously tagged his neck, because he wasn't fighting. She was smiling ear to ear, giggling softly, and I knew Jasper couldn't help his amusement when she was so proud.

"You little cheat." He teased, reaching up and shoving her off. "Get off." He chortled, siting up rolling his eyes. She was lying on her back, hair splayed out around her head, the sun making her skin sparkle. Her eyes, still blood-red, were full of mirth as she laughed at her brother. Her eyes met mine then, and I felt my heart flip. Flashing over to her side, I reached down, kissing her soft, warm lips with as much passion as I felt, knowing that I couldn't hurt her. In fact, her grip on my back was almost a little too tight, but I didn't mind.

"I believe I owe my victory to you." I murmured, my lips only a centimeter from hers as I pulled her up, picking a leaf out of her hair. "I thought you were helping Esme."

"I was, but then I heard you were in trouble, so I had to come save you." She teased, her forehead touching mine, and I smiled, rubbing a finger along her cheek. "Shame on you, Emmett, cheating like that." She stuck her tongue out at our giant brother, and he rolled his eyes, joining Rosalie and Alice on the over on the ground. Esme and Carlisle came out, appearing beside my sisters, and Carlisle crossed his arms just as a little black dog appeared, jumping into Bella's lap and attacking her face with her tongue. "Hey girl." She cooed, snuggling the little puppy and kissing her head. I rubbed the dog's back, putting an arm around Bella.

"Who won?" He wondered, obviously amused.

"Bella." Jasper answered with a rueful grin, nodding his head over to us, and Esme laughed.

"I was wondered where she was running off to." Esme looked around, her eyes soft and her thoughts content as she surveyed her family. She loved it when all was peaceful and happy in her family, and since Bella, that had happened more and more. "Bella, wasn't there something you wanted to show Edward?" She prompted my fiancé with a tiny smile.

"Oh! Right!" My love's eyes lit up as she turned to me. "We finished plans for the bedroom…I mean, decorating it." Since we'd moved to the new house, we hadn't done much besides the actual architecture, and some remodeling. Bella and I were sharing a large master bedroom that was, at the moment, empty of all furniture but a large bed. We'd taken the first week or so to get her adjusted to life with us and to play, enjoying some stress-free time. Of course, we all pitched in in the cleaning as well, and Bella and I had worked in the library, unpacking the books and placing them on shelves. Bella and I would decorate the room…well, she would. I would be happy with anything as long as she was, and we were planning on going shopping soon. We needed to start getting her around humans in a controlled environment so that she could start building tolerance. She hadn't registered for classes yet, and we all wondered if she would be ready to attend class by the start of the fall semester. "Come on!" She jumped to her feet, tugging me up as well, and I chuckled as hauled me to the house, past everyone else, and Carlie leapt into Jasper's arms, not happy to be ignored.

"I'm coming, I'm coming." I laughed, gripping her hand and kissing it. She was so happy…I felt it, as though I were Jasper. I paused as she pulled me into the kitchen, placing my hands around her waist, lifting her and spinning her around, my lips finding hers, and like a typical newborn, she was instantly distracted. She wrapped her arms around me, lifting her legs, and I groaned a little, hitching her legs over my hips. As she wound herself around me, pressing against my body, I realized that, if I had any hopes of the wedding night I'd planned, we would need to stop.

"Love…" I murmured, gasping as her lips moved to my neck. She'd become more and more bold, and I couldn't complain, but she was making it harder to stop every time. "You wanted to show me something."

"Mhm." I chuckled when she didn't stop, her tongue touching the skin right under my ear.

"Wedding night." I reminded her, trying to pull gently away, but I didn't have much fight in me.

"Edward…" She whined, her adorable nose scrunching as she pulled away.

"It's going to be great."

"Fine." She rolled her eyes, grabbing my hand and pulling me into the kitchen where she'd laid out the plans. "Okay, so I was thinking we could use this color…or maybe this one. But the bedding can be like this…I like this pattern, what do you think?" I could understand her excitement. As much as she didn't like shopping, she was happy to decorate our bedroom together. Grinning and nodding as I put an arm around her, I listened to her ideas on color scheme, wondering if she'd gotten any of them from Esme or Alice. "Edward? Are you listening?"

"Of course, my love."


	2. Chapter 2

Bella

I found that, as a vampire, my natural response to being stressed or upset was absolute immobility, which was how I found myself sitting next to Edward in his car, my body completely still as we drove into the city. Although the plan, at the moment, was for me to take online classes at the college, I still needed to get used to being around humans, even though I didn't yet know if we would be attending college or high school. Spending a few minutes with first my father and then Angela a week ago had been a significant challenge, and I wasn't looking forward to being in a store full of humans when I could still feel that dull ache in my throat.

I knew that I would be with my family, and they would all be ready to hold me back if something were to happen…but the very thought of the look on their faces if I were to attack someone…it made me sick, somehow. 'What if I cause a scene and we have to leave? What if I bring the Volturi down on us? What if I kill someone!?'

"Love?" I glanced over at Edward, his voice startling me despite how softly he was speaking. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine." I assured him, smiling gently and taking his free hand, squeezing carefully. The thought that I had to be careful with him now was almost amusing. He chuckled softly, shaking his head, and I realized with a sigh I'd said it again. "Sorry." I mumbled. I'd been trying for more honesty with him, and although it was difficult, I was doing better. "I'm worried…being in a building full of humans." We were on our way to the store where we would be picking out bedding and paint and everything else for the room. Carlisle and Esme were already at the store with Alice, and the others were behind us in Rosalie's new car. Driving on the left side of the road would have been quite uncomfortable if I were human, but honestly, I trusted Edward completely, and even if we were to get into an accident, we would be fine.

"You'll be fine." He assured me, turning to look at me instead of the road. "We're all going to be with you the whole time. And then, we get to paint our bedroom and get everything set up…we'll be living here for a while."

"If I don't kill anyone." I murmured, and he sighed, kissing my hand.

"I'm going to be holding onto you the whole time." He promised. "I won't let you hurt anyone. And I think you're not giving yourself enough credit. You were able to talk to your father inside his house only a few days after you were changed. And you and Alice just hunted last night." I nodded, keeping quite as we drove into the city, and I found myself watching the humans as they walked around the city, in and out of the buildings. It was cloudy, the trees swaying in the wind as people occasionally glanced up at the sky, probably wondering if it was going to rain. It was. Alice had assured us that a storm was moving in, and in a few hours, we would be driving home in a downpour. "Alice promised to let us decorate." He reminded me, and I nodded once more. "Bella?"

"Yeah?"

"You don't have to do this today." I made myself smile, turning to him. I knew that Alice would kill us if we bailed last minute. She wanted to get the entire house decorated as soon as possible so she could move on to whatever project she had planned next.

"You'll be there. I'll be fine." Honestly, I was somewhat excited about this type of shopping. I'd be spending the day with Edward and then we would be decorating our bedroom…our room. Of course, I knew we would be moving in less than ten years, and that this would happen again, but this was the first time Edward and I would be sharing a room that we decorated together…in a new house with the family and…it was exiting. Like a new beginning with Edward, and although I knew all of the moving and redecorating would probably get old at some point, I didn't want to think on that any more than I wanted to think about the humans I would be interacting with al day.

We pulled into the parking lot next to Carlisle's new car, followed quickly by Rosalie's. They were all relatively normal cars, as we were doing our best not to stand out this time. The city itself was large…much larger than Forks, but since we lived out on the countryside, we also had a collection of fancy, sleek, ridiculously expensive cars that the others insisted on. At the moment, I didn't have my own car…I just shared with Edward, which was fine with me. I didn't plan on going anywhere among humans alone any time soon.

Edward appeared at the passenger's side, opening the door and offering a hand, and although the gesture was completely unnecessary, I thanked him softly, taking his warm hand in my own and fighting the urge to kiss him in the very public parking lot. Although my throat burned, while his hand was holding mine, my thoughts were solely on him. "Come on, you two. I want to get this over with." Emmett called, already opening the door to the shop, and we followed with small smiles, stepping inside the building and immediately spotting Esme chatting with a woman in an apron while looking at paint samples. I could smell Alice and Carlisle as well, but it was the store employee with the apron that had my full attention.

For just a second, I forgot that she was a woman, probably mid-forties, with lovely blonde hair with a few streaks of grey tucked into a loose ponytail; that she was smiling at Esme and laughing easily at something my adoptive mother said. All I could see was the faint pulse point on her neck where I knew the blood ran, and the smell made my throat burse into flames. I wasn't thirsty…I was actually quite full, almost to the point of feeling uncomfortable, but my throat ached and I knew that blood would feel so nice…even better than a deer or a mountain lion. "Bella." Edward's hand tightened on my own, and with a rush of shame, I realized what I'd been thinking. I dropped my head, too humiliated to see if the others were looking at me. I'd been practically drooling while staring at that poor woman.

"It's okay, Bella." Jasper murmured from Emmett's side as the two approached Esme and the woman who introduced herself and Lori.

"We knew it would be hard at first. It's okay." Edward comforted me gently, rubbing his thumb over the back of my hand. "It was hard for all of us. Come on. Let's look around, okay? Alice wants to show us some paint samples." I nodded, not breathing as he pulled me aside, and we made our way down a few aisles b efore we found Alice, comparing two color samples as though nothing had happened.

"Okay, so I know you were looking at blues and greens…what do you think of this color? And we're keeping the floors as they are…they're all original. The bedding you liked will go with this color, Bella." Alice held up three different pain swatches and I thought for a moment, trying to concentrate. I wasn't an interior designer, so I glanced over at Edward who was watching me, a soft smile on his lips as he continued to caress my hand with his thumb.

"Um…I like the lighter one…that one?" I asked, picking one of the lighter blues, and Edward nodded.

"I don't really have a preference." He admitted, kissing my cheek. "You pick." I gave him a look, scrunching my nose and crossing my arms.

"But what if you hate it? You have to help. Do you even like blue?" He chuckled, darting forward and kissing me, making my roll my eyes and laugh a little.

"As long as you're in the room, I won't be looking at the walls." He murmured, and Alice sighed behind me.

"Shoo then. Go find Carlisle then. I'll make sure you love whatever color I pick…on the off chance Bella isn't constantly with you in the room." He laughed softly, taking my hand and leading me down the aisles. It wasn't hard to find our father….he was standing beside Rosalie and Emmett who were looking at wallpaper.

Sadly, this trip wasn't turning out how I'd hoped. I'd wanted to decorate our room with Edward. I'd wanted to show myself that I could be in a store full of humans without feeling this consuming pain in my throat…without thinking about sinking my teeth into a human's neck, blood coating my tongue…soothing my throat. "Bella?" Emmett and Carlisle were staring at me, but Edward pulled me aside, his hand touching my face. I felt a wave of hot shame…my eyes were wet and he glanced over at his family, nodding at something his father must have been thinking.

"I want to go home." I whispered simply, not meeting his eyes, and he nodded.

"Of course, love." He took my hand, rubbing his thumb along the back, and we walked together out into the parking lot. "Are you alright?" He asked, pausing outside of his still warm car. "Do you need Carlisle? Are you feeling okay?" I didn't know what could possibly be wrong with me now. I was immortal. Almost indestructible. It wasn't like I could get sick anymore.

"I'm fine. I just want to go home." I slipped away and climbed into the passenger's seat, staring out the window as he started the car, reaching out almost tentatively to take my hand. I let him, not squeezing back when he did.

"Can I please ask what you're thinking?" He whispered, and the sadness in his voice brought me out of my daze.

"I wanted to kill her, Edward." I answered simply. "That woman talking to Esme…"

"Sweetheart, you weren't in any danger of harming her. Alice would have seen." I didn't answer. It didn't matter. I'd known that it would be hard. But knowing that something was going to be difficult and actually feeling the burning thirst that came with wanting to kill another person were two totally different things. He was driving so quickly that, had I still been human, the scenery would have been a complete blur. Instead, I tried to concentrate on each of the trees as we passed them…on the birds and the squirrels and the less frequent humans. "We all understand…it's something we've all been through, especially at first. It's only been a little over two weeks. We shouldn't have tried this today."

I was silent until we pulled into the driveway, and then I was out of the car, hurrying inside to find Carlie. "Hey sweetie." I murmured as the puppy met me in the foyer, and them immediately followed her as she went outside to use the bathroom, even though we'd only been gone for about an hour. Edward watched me from the entrance to the garage where he'd parked the car, his brow furrowed. He hadn't pulled out his cellphone to explain what was going on to the rest of the family. As much as I loved all of them however, it was nice to be just the two of us for a while. Well…the three of us, I amended silently as Carlie ran circles around me, yipping playfully until I picked her up, snuggling her in my arms and burying my nose in her fur.

I sat on the grass, cuddling with my quickly growing puppy. He joined me after a moment, tentatively putting his arms around me and kissing my hair. He knew me pretty well…well enough not to ask about my strange mood. He laughed a little when Carlie climbed into his arms instead, and the two of us pet her, kissing her head indulgently, then laughing when she took off, running around the yard. I kept an eye on her. There was a fence around the property, but I wasn't about to risk losing her.

I closed my eyes and lay on my back, feeling Edward move beside me, keeping me in his arms. He obviously understood that I didn't want to talk about it, and he didn't push me. "Would you like to go for a hunt?" He offered. I did…but not with him. The thought made my chest ache and I curled up at his side. I wanted to be alone for a while. To think. I'd made my decision and I certainly didn't regret it. But I hadn't had a second alone since I'd been changed, and everything suddenly seemed too much.

"Will you watch Carlie?" I asked, not surprised but flinching just a bit when his eyes widened in hurt. "I just…I just want to be alone. Just for a few hours, Edward." He swallowed hard, nodding with a forced smile.

"Of course, love." He told me gently, and I kissed him, cupping his face in my hand. I wanted him to know that I loved him…that nothing could ever change that. This had nothing to do with him. I couldn't bear for him to think I was angry with him.

"I love you. I'll be back soon." I whispered against his mouth, kissing him one more time before standing and taking off.

Edward

Mood-swings weren't uncommon with newborns. I expected them…I did my best to make sure she didn't ever suspect I was upset with her. But today was something different. She'd been excited, even in the face of my less-than-believable fake enthusiasm about decorating our bedroom together, and then, as if a switch was turned off, she shut down, asking me to take her home, barely speaking to me. I watched her retreating back, my heart crumbling as she left me. That's how I saw it…she was leaving me. What had I done? Did she regret it? Now that she'd been met with the reality of our life, did she resent me for changing her? Well…Carlisle had changed her…did she resent him? Did she hate us for condemning her to this life?

I held Carlie in my arms and climbed up the stairs to our bedrooms. The puppy curled up happily on my lap, licking my face with a tail that whipped back and forth, smacking me every other second. My thoughts couldn't stray far from Bella, even with the overly excited puppy in my arms. I leaned my head back against the headboard, staring at the ceiling. I wondered what kind of bedding Alice would buy us…I wondered why I couldn't have done a better job faking excitement. Maybe that would have made her feel better. I knew she was doing well…she loved playing with my family and joking around with us…she loved the games and the closeness and hunting with me. But she was still afraid. She didn't want to go near humans. She was supposed to start online classes later, but the details were honestly still not settled. One moment she was thinking about finishing high school, but Carlisle was worried about her control, and so was she, especially after today.

Of course she could always do online college classes under a different name, which would give her two to four years to go back to high school. That would give us some extra years…but I was afraid she was uncomfortable with the idea. Of course I would stay and do classes with her. When we went to high school, I'd go with her. I would stay at her side no matter what. But maybe that wasn't what she wanted. Maybe she didn't want to be with me. Maybe she thought this was a mistake. I closed my eyes tightly, squeezing the little dog in my arms. She'd has such a good week, and I'd rushed her into this.

My phone vibrated in my pocket, making me jump a little. I shifted the puppy onto the bed and pulled it out, greeting Alice after checking the name. "Hey, she's fine. Stop worrying." She scolded gently. "We all had a hard time at first."

"What if she leaves, Alice." I whispered, stroking Carlie's head absently.

"Edward stop." She told me firmly. "Bella would never leave you. She loves you. This is her first time really being around humans, and it's hard on her." There was a long pause, and I took a deep breath. "Will it be okay if I go after her?"

"Wait for her to come back to you. She just needs a few hours alone." She advised. Thanking her quietly, I hung up the phone and placed it on the bed beside me, chuckling softly when the dog climbed onto my chest. To my surprise, it was only about a half hour later that a car pulled into the driveway, and Carlisle and Esme entered the house. Carlie leapt off the bed, racing down to meet them, and I stood with a small smile, following her down the stairs to find my parents in a half second.

'Is she okay?" Esme asked silently, touching my arms, and I forced a smile.

"Alice says she just needs a bit of time…she went hunting." The 'by herself' hung silently in the air, and Esme squeezed my arm.

"She's doing well, Edward. She was able to be in a room with humans and didn't attack. She was tempted, but she was able to tell you when she needed to leave. That's an accomplishment, Edward…it's only been two weeks."

"I know that." I reminded him. "She's doing so well…but she's afraid. And...so am I. What if she thinks this was a mistake, Carlisle?"

"Edward, Bella gave up her humanity for you, but she knew what she was doing. She was fully informed going into this, and she loves you so much. She made her choice. She chose you…and all of us for her family. Even if there ever comes a time when she regrets this decision, which I doubt she will, or if she misses her old life, which is more likely, then it will still have been her choice."

It took her nearly two hours to return, and when she did, she headed right up to our room where I was sitting, waiting for her, and sat beside me. "I'm sorry." She whispered, looking up at me from below her lashes, seeming sheepish and sad, and I wrapped my arms firmly around her, kissing her hair.

"You have nothing to apologize for."

"I knew it would be hard." She argued with a soft sob, and I ran my hand through her long hair, taking a deep breath of her unique, sweet scent.

"There is a difference between knowing something and experiencing it." I reminded her. "It gets easier, but for now, it is going to be hard, both mentally and physically for you. But I'm going to be right here with you." I cupped her face in my hands, smiling a little when she did. "I love you."

"I love you too." She murmured, reaching up and kissing me, lifting her arms to drape around my neck, and I lay back on the bed, pulling her on top of me. "I love you so much…I'm sorry I ran off like that." She whispered against my lips, her crimson eyes still a little sad.

"You don't have to be sorry. We all need time alone sometimes. That's okay. I understand. Did you catch anything." I wondered with a smile, my thumb sliding over her jaw, and for a second I lost myself in the feel of her soft, warm skin. My lips followed my fingers and I pressed them against her throat.

"Squirrel." She mumbled, and I chuckled against her skin. My lips continued their trail down to her collar bones. "Not that I'm protesting…" She tangled her fingers in my hair, shifting on top of me. "…but didn't you say something…about a wedding? And…waiting…not that I'm anxious to…wait…" She gasped when my fingers slipped under her blouse and inched upwards.

"We're still waiting." I said against her skin with a laugh. "But there are plenty of other things we can do in the meantime."

Alice

The envelope turned over and over in Edward's hands, his expression stressed and heavy. Bella sat behind him, her hand on his arm. "It's going to be okay. Carlisle can go with me…he doesn't need to see you." In the next moment, Carlisle and Bella were on a plane, his arm around her…what was he saying? Where were…oh. Italy.

"Alice?" Jasper's hand on my shoulder brought me back to the present and I smiled weakly at my husband, then at the woman assisting us.

"I'm so sorry. I completely zoned out." I told the woman with a little laugh, and she smiled, asking again which color I preferred out of the three she held up. Emmett, Rosalie, and Jasper, however, were all staring at me warily, wondered what had distracted me. I squeezed Jasper's hand, hoping to assure him that I was okay. As soon as the woman headed back behind the counter to get the paint, I filled them in too quietly for the woman to hear.

"Carlisle is going to take Bella to see Aro…he has to. They're going to come here if he doesn't, and we don't want them coming there…we just moved here. He already wants Edward and me…it's best we don't go…we don't want to tempt him." Paying for the paint, we headed outside, and I pulled out my phone to call Carlisle to give him a head's up before we got any letters from his old friend.

When we arrived home, Bella and Edward were still upstairs, but Carlisle and Esme were waiting for us in the living room. Rosalie and Emmett took the armchair while Jasper and I joined our parents on the sofa. "I couldn't tell how long we had…but Edward looked upset when he was reading the letter. I think you should go before they try to contact us." From the absence of sound upstairs, I could tell that we had Edward and Bella's attention. A moment later, they were standing in the doorway to the living room, Bella tucked under Edward's arm.

"I have to go." Edward spoke up, but before I could explain what that was a terrible idea, Bella beat me to it.

"No! They already want you. We have to keep you away from Aro."

"Edward, I'll be with her." Carlisle reminded him. "You know I would never let anything happen to Bella. You can be close by, but the two of us will have to enter the city alone."

"Edward." Bella whispered to our distraught brother, tugging his arm gently and turning him around to face her. He cupped her face in his hands, looking terrified. The fun from the day before seemed like a distant memory now, and once more, my brother was afraid for his mate's life. "They have no reason to want to hurt me. We did what they asked. We haven't broken any rules. We'll just stop by…it probably won't take but an hour, and then we'll be together again. Maybe we can go to Spain on our way back?" She asked, her eyes alight with mischief, and I smiled when Edward relaxed a little, stroking her hair.

"That sounds like a great idea." Carlisle put in, nodding at both of them. "Edward, you can wait for us in Spain. Bella and I will go on to Italy, meet with Aro, then come back the same day. You can survive that long without her." He teased, and Edward chuckled softly.

"If I must." He joked, kissing Bella's hair. "Then the wedding." He verified, and I nodded.

"The plans are all finished. We'll have it here. We can invite everyone…well, you know. Charlie, Angela…and I was thinking Kate too." Edward lifted an eyebrow at that, obviously wondering why I'd specified her, but was cut off by Carlisle standing and pulling out his phone.

"I'll go ahead and book the tickets. The sooner we get this over with, the sooner you two can get married and we can put all of this behind us." Bella nodded, and I knew she wasn't eager for the wedding…it was what would happen on Isle Esme that had her keyed up. Edward gave me a look, but I just tucked myself into Jasper's side, smiling innocently. I wasn't going to ruin the surprise.


	3. Chapter 3

Bella

I remembered this corridor…the long stretch of stone and gloomy archways and columns…only now I wasn't nearly so cold, and I was a little less afraid. Carlisle glanced over at me, putting an arm around my shoulders after a moment as we followed Felix down the dark hallway. Well…it would be dark to a human. I could see just fine. My thoughts wandered back to the last time I'd seen the giant vampire, almost as big and strong looking as my brother, and I felt a shiver go down my spine. Carlisle was with me, I reminded myself. Aro liked Carlisle and we'd done nothing wrong. I was safe with him. Carlisle noticed my fear and kissed my hair quickly. "It's going to be okay, Bella. We'll be heading back to Spain soon…" I nodded, forcing myself to breathe evenly. Not that it mattered…it just kept me calm.

After a couple of days of careful planning, it had been decided that Carlisle would accompany me to Volterra. As much as I didn't want to put anyone else in the family in danger, everyone had been adamant that I not come alone. Honestly, I couldn't really argue. The thought of coming here alone terrified me. But that didn't mean I wanted anyone else in danger. If it were up to me, we would just Skype the crazies. Did vampires do Skype? I almost smiled at the idea of calling Aro up via the computer and chatting about my transformation. Edward had insisted on coming as well, but had reluctantly agreed that going to Italy with us might be risky, so he'd agreed to just come part of the way.

Early that morning, we'd left Edward at a hotel in Spain…he and I had spent the evening together while Carlisle had spent the night in a room separate from us, on the phone with Esme nearly the whole time. Of course, we'd agree that our 'wedding night' would wait until our actual wedding night, but there were so many other things we could do…if I had been human, my cheeks would have heated up, making my face glow red in the stone corridor. As it was, the corners of my lips lifted and I swallowed the smile, scolding myself for thinking about that while we were on our way to speak to the maniac that lived here.

"They have no quarrel with us…they have no reason to. Aro is an old friend. He wants to make sure we've met his condition." My father reminded me, pulling me out of my daydreaming. I nodded, still doubtful, but hoping he was right. The last time I had met Aro, he'd mentioned Carlisle as an 'old friend' and of course, Carlisle had told me a little about the Volturi and his time with them. For half a second, I wished Carlie were with me. Edward had almost agreed to bring her to the hotel at least, but I knew she didn't much care for flying, so I didn't want to put her through that just for my own comfort. Still, I'd be happy to see my puppy soon. She was getting bigger every day.

On the plane ride over, in our private jet of course, as I wasn't even close to being able to be around humans in such a small space for so long, Carlisle had told me a few stories about his life in Italy. It was here that he'd studied medicine for so many years, and learned about art, posing for paintings for hours on year with his friends…or friends at the time. He also told me of their attempts to 'cure him of his unnatural aversion' to human blood. I'd flinched at that, closing my eyes at the thought of being faced with the types of temptation he had. It was no wonder to me that he'd left them.

My thoughts wandered back to Edward once more, and I realized I was counting the moments until I could get back to him. I already missed him so much. He'd almost insisted on coming, but it was bad enough Aro might latch onto the fact that Charlie knew that I wasn't dead. Of course, we hadn't told anyone anything explicitly…I just hoped that would be enough to keep him from detaining us…or moving against my father. I wanted this over as quickly as possible.

The most important thing was, I didn't want Aro anywhere near Edward, or Alice for that matter. They had told me that he collected talented vampires, and he wanted them. He wanted Edward and Alice for his collection, and I couldn't bear the thought of losing either of them. So I'd insisted, despite Edward's surprisingly loud and fervent protests, that he stay in Spain and wait for us to return from our visit. In the end, I'd had to pry myself out of his arms with the promise that I would call as soon as we were finished in Volterra. Even as he'd kissed me goodbye and extracted the promise from Carlisle that he would never let anything happen to me, I'd been able to see the fear in his eyes.

The hallway twisted and turned, but I knew that I would be able to find my way out this time, on my own if I had to. I glanced over at Carlisle and amended the thought. I wouldn't be leaving alone. I could never return without Carlisle. Up ahead, Felix moved unhurriedly through the corridors, never bothering to glance back at us as we made our way deeper and deeper into the buildings. He had greeted us at the car as we'd parked in the shade, grinning at me familiarly. "Hey Bella." He'd almost leered at me, and I'd rolled my eyes, smirking a little. He wasn't nearly as frightening now that I was a newborn.

"Felix." Carlisle had looked between us, trying to figure out the strange atmosphere, but had immediately dropped it, not bothering to ask how they'd known we were coming. They might not have anyone like Alice, but they certainly knew how to keep tabs on their 'subjects.' Without further ado, we had been ushered into an old, empty building and then down a flight of stairs, making me wonder if all of these buildings were connected by underground tunnels, and if so, these tunnels had been built by the Volturi. It certainly wouldn't take long…I felt my own strength in every movement, and knew that if I needed to tunnel my way out of the city, it wouldn't be much of a challenge.

After nearly half and hour, we entered the huge, familiar room where I'd met the Volturi for the first time. Carlisle took a deep breath and composed his face into a semblance of a smile, but I could only manage a look of polite indifference. My stomach felt like it was churning with fear, and I swallowed it back, knowing that I was being irrational. I couldn't get sick anymore. Aro was the first one I saw, sitting in a chair that looked like a throne, and speaking to Jane who was standing at his side. Behind them were several others who seemed to be milling about, but I didn't recognize them…his two brothers were nowhere in sight. As I glanced around the room, Jane gave me a feral smile and I fought the urge to bare my teeth, reminded of how she'd hurt Edward. Aro, on the other hand, didn't seem to notice Jane's reaction to me and smiled hugely as Carlisle and I entered, holding out his arms as if to hug us, but he paused in front of us, folding his hands instead and seemed to compose himself. He'd flashed forward, and despite being used to such quick movements, I'd flinched. "Carlisle, my friend." I wasn't Jasper, but I could nearly feel my second father's unease. "It has truly been too long."

"Hello, Aro." Carlisle nodded, his smile faint. "It has. Forgive me…we've been quite busy. There hasn't been time to visit."

"Yes, especially since young Bella came into your life." He turned with a smile for me, his red eyes just as frightening as before. "I must say, my dear, immortality suits you." Once again, he reached out as if to touch me, but his hand never came into contact with my face. Instead, he reached out a hand. "If I may, Bella?" I knew I didn't really have a choice. I reached out, taking his hand as if to shake, but he only held my hand between both of his own, concentrating intently….and just like before, his concentration turned into brief surprise, and then what seemed like irritation that melted into his usual happy mask. "Well, it seems you're still immune to my little talent." He released my hand, glancing back at Jane. "Jane." Aro asked with a quiet smile, and I felt Carlisle's incredulous stare move between us. "Why don't we see if she's still immune…"

"Aro!" Carlisle cried, horrified, and as the small girl turned to face me, he stepped in front of me, growling furious as he got in the way, all semblance of polite friendship gone. Of course, he didn't know that I would still be immune…neither did I, honestly. Still, I wanted to grab him, to pull him away, but he continued, stepping towards Aro before I had the change. "Aro! You can't possibly…" and then he fell to his knees. His jaw clenched against the pain, and it was just like before…just like watching Edward collapse, agony clear on his face while he was tortured in front of me. Unlike Edward, after only a second he began to cry out, his agonized voice echoing in the halls. And I couldn't take it. Every part of me rebelled at the sight of my father screaming on the floor.

"No!" I shrieked, and something strange happened. He was silent. He looked up at me in bewilderment…and that was all I knew before I was on the ground, my entire body on fire as I thrashed, the burning consuming me again…just like before, and just the first time, when the fire had spread throughout my body, acid flowing through my veins and burning me alive. I shouted and thrashed, barely able to feel Carlisle's gentle hand on my shoulder.

"Jane, stop! Please, Aro, stop this!" He begged his old friend, his words all but lost on me, and then his hand tightened around my arm. It was like fire and acid and so much pain as my body burned…but after only a moment, something shifted in me…something I didn't quite understand, and the pain stopped as abruptly as it had begun. Gasping for air I didn't need, I slumped back against the floor, and Carlisle stared balefully at Aro who was watching us with complete fascination.

"Was that necessary?" He asked quietly. "You call yourself my friend, and when I visit, you torture my daughter?" His hand was on my arm, gently pulling me back to my feet, but once I was upright, his arm stayed around me. "We came to inform you that your condition was met. Bella is one of us…we've given her immortality. We've done nothing to deserve such a reception." I could tell he was anxious to leave…so was I. But Aro gave us a small, apologetic smile.

"Forgive me Carlisle. I simply had to know if young Bella was able to shield herself from Jane and myself like before."

Carlisle frowned down at me for a moment, then back at the grinning Aro. "Shield?" He asked, his face thoughtful.

"Well of course…young Bella is one of the most powerful shields I've ever encountered. Neither Edward nor myself can read her mind, and my she's immune to Jane's talent as well…sometimes." He chuckled. "It seems she can shield others as well. I've thought a great deal about young Bella's talent since our last meeting." He spoke speculatively, his gaze making me shrink uncomfortably against Carlisle who was holding me closely by his side now, his stance defensive.

"Regardless, we came to show you that we help up our end of the bargain. My daughter is one of us now, and our secret it safe." Aro nodded thoughtfully, then held out a hand. I'd hoped we would be able to skip this part.

Carlisle took a deep breath, looking over at me with a reassuring smile, and then held his hand out to Aro who had remained a few feet away from us while Jane and the others watched from across the room. I was frozen, feeling horror wash over me. What if Aro decided to punish us after all for revealing even a part of our secret? What if he decided to kill my father and Angela? I had no idea what Aro had meant about shielding others, but I remembered that day with Edward and Jasper…when I hadn't wanted Edward to see Sam hurting me. I remembered how Edward had somehow been unable to hear Jasper's thoughts for a moment.

Focusing with everything I had, I thought about my father, and Angela, and the danger they would be in. I thought about keeping Carlisle and the rest of my family safe. I stared at Carlisle and thought of how much I needed to be able to protect him and the rest of my family from Aro, and, to my unending surprise, as Aro touched my father's hand, he stiffened, looking up at Carlisle, and then at me in surprise. I wondered if he would reprimand me…if he would demand I let him hear Carlisle's thoughts. But Jane was looking at him eagerly, and I flinched, hoping she wouldn't do that to me again. Even if she did, I had to keep my focus….she couldn't kill me with her talent, but if he saw that Angela and Charlie were in on our secret….they might kill them. And maybe us too.

"Fascinating." He said quietly, dropping Carlisle's hand as he stared at me. "It seems you can shield others just as strongly as you can shield yourself. And you cannot yet control it?" I shook my head, hoping he wouldn't think to touch Carlisle again. I didn't know how long I could focus on this...already my mind felt so tired and strained, and I could almost feel something, like a rubber band being stretched too far, and hoped that it wouldn't hurt wen it snapped back. Instead of reaching for me, Aro only smiled, crossing his arms with a soft laugh. "Well, our conditions have certainly been met, and our secret is safe." I kept my face perfectly controlled. "You know, Carlisle, your coven has grown quite large…"

My father had moved back to my side, and at Aro's words, he wound his arm tightly around me once more, his body nearly blocking me from Aro and Jane, who gave me a cold little smile. I felt whatever it was that I suddenly seemed to be aware of surrounding me relax just a fraction, then pull back into place before it disappeared. I hoped Carlisle would have some insight into my strange gift, because I didn't understand it at all. "Bella will be the last, I believe. We are all mated, and happy as a family. Of course, we don't always live together." He murmured, and I wondered why he emphasized that.

"Young Bella, here, seems to have quite a gift. She's a strong little shield, isn't she?" Carlisle looked down at me, something akin to wonder in his eyes. We hadn't given much thought yet as to what I could do; much less give it a name. It had only been a few days since Alice had told us about Aro attempting to contact us…since we'd decided to drop everything and come here.

"She is." He agreed, his hand moving to my back where he began to rub soothing circles over my shirt. Aro looked at me for a long moment, a slight smile ever on his face.

"We could use a gift like hers. To be able to shield from any kind of mental invasion…oh, and I'm sure we could train her to master it…to do so much more. Such a wealth of potential!" Carlisle clenched his jaw, looking over at me, then back at the ancient vampire. "I know you won't join us again, my old friend, but perhaps your newborn will."

When Carlisle spoke, it was in a strangled voice that strove to be polite. But his hand was clutching my waist almost painfully. Suddenly I realized that if it came to a fight…if I had to choose to protect my family, I'd stay. My thoughts flashed back to Edward, and once more, my stomach lurched. I'd never see him again…I couldn't let Aro have him! I couldn't let him be forced into this life. Would our family be able to keep him away? My thoughts raced in panicked circles as Carlisle spoke. "I am the head of my family, not her master." He informed Aro. "Where she goes is up to her."

"Of course." The red-eyed man turned to me, his expression kind, and somehow that made him much more frightening. "What do you say, my dear? Would you like to visit us for a little while? We'd be happy to help you master your gift." I looked over at Carlisle, knowing he could see the fear in my eyes, and he rubbed his thumb over my side where his hand rested.

"Does she have a choice?" Carlisle wondered a bit coldly.

"Of course." Aro cried, seeming suddenly very shocked. "I wouldn't force you to stay, my dear. But I would love if you would join us, even if just for a little while. A little Italian vacation." He chuckled, as though he'd said something terribly clever, and I made myself smile lightly. "You could invite Edward to come as well, of course. I know you wouldn't want to be without him. If you decided to stay, I know he would come." The smile on his face made a shiver run up my spine. Carlisle squeezed me gently to his side and I considered my words carefully.

"I truly appreciate the offer, Aro, but I think I'd better be getting home. Edward will be missing me, and I wouldn't want to leave my family."

For a moment, a strange expression passed over his face, but he nodded, smiling once more. "Of course, dear Bella. I understand." For just a brief second, relief flared in my stomach. "Still, I insist you stay until this evening…we wouldn't want you out on the streets during the day of course." And with that, the relief was gone.

Icy fear gripped my heart, but I made myself nod, my lips curving into a tiny smile that I had to force. "Of course." I told him softly with a nod, knowing that there was no way to politely refuse that request. Carlisle rubbed my back, his thumb running in tiny circles across my shoulder blades. He nodded along with me, obviously aware that we had no choice in the matter.

"Carlisle, I'd love to catch up, old friend. Why don't you and I head into my library? You can tell me about your coven. And I have some old works I would dare say even you haven't read. Bella, Felix will show you to one of the rooms. You'll be comfortable there for a few hours…I'm sure our old stories would bore you, my dear."

I wanted to argue, and not only because I was afraid that he would keep me prisoner. There was something strange about his request. I wanted to grab onto Carlisle and hide behind him, away from the red-eyed gaze of this ancient monster. But that obviously wasn't an option. Instead, I stepped away from Carlisle, touching his hand for just a moment, then smiled at them, summoning every scrap of acting talent that Edward and Alice insisted I didn't have. "Of course." I told him simply, nodding a little, and noticing that Carlisle kept a careful distance between himself and Aro. Well, if Aro were to touch him now, there was nothing I could do…was there? I followed Felix, who had stepped out of the shadows and beckoned for me to follow him, but my mind was on Carlisle. I didn't want Aro to read his mind. He couldn't. I couldn't let that happen. I felt something stretch…it almost felt like a migraine building as I focused, but I refused to stop. Whatever this talent I had was, if I could just make it protect Carlisle, it would all be worth it.

It had been nearly three p.m. when we arrived. It would be dark around seven. Four hours, I told myself. I can keep this up for four hours. It wasn't so long, especially in a vampire's life. I could bear this for a little longer. But the further I followed Felix down the little hallway, the worse the pain got, until, thankfully, he stopped in front of a door. "You should be comfortable in here for a few hours." He told me with a grin, gesturing grandly, and I managed to make myself sound grateful.

"Thanks, Felix." I stepped past him with a little apprehension, but he simply remained at the door while I tried to take in the details of the room. I was glad. I was strong, and I'd learned a little about fighting, but I didn't suffer from any illusions that I could hope to beat Felix in a fight. Instead of thinking more on that, I turned to the room, taking it in. It was pure luxury, with a beautiful wooden wardrobe and a giant bed and even a television mounted to the wall. I wondered for a moment why a family of royal vampires bothered with guest rooms, but dismissed the thought as I kept all of my mental focus on Carlisle. I pictured him in my mind as I sat on the bed, not letting my mind wander or even react to the fact that Felix was standing outside the door that I'd shut behind myself as though he were guarding me…or keeping me prisoner. I didn't think about being forced to stay here, or the strangeness of this situation. No…I had to focus. Carlisle. I imagined his face in perfect detail. Unlike the other old vampires, he looked so alive and young…compassion and kindness radiated from his very being, and I never felt safer than when I was with him, save for being with Edward.

I pictured him with Esme, or with the others in our family. Leader and guide and father figure all in one. I had to keep him safe. I knew, deep down, that Aro would most likely not harm my surrogate father, soon to be father-in-law, but I also knew that, if imagining it this way helped me keep my concentration, then I would do whatever worked. It was in everyone's best interests if Aro couldn't read his mind, so I focused. I could hear others moving about the giant building, both above and below me. I could smell other vampires…blood drinkers from the smell of them, although I'd known that from the start.

I wanted to pull my phone out…to call Edward and assure him that he didn't need to worry. But I was terrified that if I moved even a muscle, the thing that seemed to stretch from my mind would snap back, and Carlisle would be left unprotected. From this distance and without knowing exactly where he was, I didn't think I could make it go back if I lost it. I just hoped that Alice would call Edward and let him know that we were okay. The last thing I needed was for him to storm the castle, so to speak, and anger the Volturi when the visit was already going so well. I snorted a little at the thought, then scolded myself for losing even a tiny bit of focus.

I imagined Carlisle once more, covered in a physical shield. That's what they had called me. A shield. So I imagined a barrier between Aro and my father…a physical thing keeping Aro from touching him, stronger than anything a vampire could break through. I kept my eyes forward, unseeing as they fixed on the TV, and the fatigue in my mind almost made me dizzy. I hadn't felt anything like this as a vampire. Even when I'd tried to keep Jasper from showing Edward what had happened, it hadn't felt anything like this. But it had to be the same thing, I told myself. Maybe it was the distance. Maybe I just needed more practice.

The hours seemed to drag, and my fear only increased with each one. What if they didn't let us go? What if Felix wouldn't let me out? What if someone hurt Carlisle? What if Edward panicked and came here? I bit down hard on my lip as the panicked thoughts circled my brain, leaving the majority of my focus on Carlisle. I felt so tired…I just wanted to close my eyes and let my mind relax, but I couldn't. I had to protect Carlisle! It couldn't be much longer.

And then the door opened, the anticlimax taking me by surprise. I looked up, staring at Felix as he looked at me, surprise flashing in his eyes before he composed himself. "You won't be hanging around the city, will you?" He wondered, and I shook my head, feeling my head pound with each movement.

"No. We're heading home tonight." After we headed to Spain, anyway…not that he needed to know that. The thought of spending the next day with Edward in a hotel was almost too good, and my concentration almost slipped. I forced myself to concentrate once more, and I pushed it away, telling myself that I would think about Edward…and call him, as soon as we left the building. I wanted to ask Felix why he'd been guarding the door…but honestly I was too fatigued to even bother. I followed him down the hallway once more, and, to my surprise, found myself in the reception area after only a few minutes. Carlisle, who had been standing and looking anxious, turned to me with wide eyes and hurried over to me, putting an arm around my shoulders and a finger under my chin. I didn't know why he was so worried, but Aro was no longer in sight and I realized that Felix had left us, so I let my mind relax, feeling my body slump with relief.

"Bella?" He asked, looking more and more worried by the second. "Are you alright?" Unable to help myself, I threw my arms around him, feeling myself shake a little as I clutched his neck. He put his hands on my back, stroking gently and trying to calm me. I was so tired…so completely exhausted, and even though I knew we were in the clear, I felt the fear like a dark shadow over my head. Was it this easy? Was he really going to let us go after making such a pretense of catching up with Carlisle and keeping me prisoner in a room by myself?

"Yeah. I'm fine. Are you okay?" He chuckled, sounding a little strained.

"I'm fine, sweetheart." I bit back a harsh sob, hiding my face in his shoulder. For a moment, kept in that room for reasons I didn't understand, I'd felt the stirrings of terror. What if Aro had decided to make me stay? What if he'd forbidden me from leaving? The thought sent a wave of panic through me, and Carlisle held me more tightly, shushing me softly. "I'm okay, Bella. We're both fine." He assured me.

"Can we leave?" I asked in a small, weak voice, feeling the façade I'd been trying to keep up in that room crumble around me.

"Of course. Let's go." He murmured, taking my hand and pulling me toward the door, obviously just as anxious as I was to get away. We passed the receptionist without a word and hurried out onto the dark street. The car was parked only a block away, just where we'd left it, and we didn't encounter any humans in the back alleys as we slipped into the vehicle. I let out a deep breath of relief as we began to drive away, leaving the nightmarish place behind. I still felt tired…such a strange, unfamiliar feeling now, and Carlisle continued to glance at me out of the corner of his eye as we left the city, which had me confused until I caught a glimpse of myself in the side mirror and stiffened in surprise.

Although my throat felt okay, my eyes were black…blacker than they had ever been, as though I'd gone months without feeding, and were underscored by deep, dark circles that made me look more exhausted than I felt. Everything about my face screamed tired and thirsty, and I touched my face with a wince. "We'll stop and find you something to drink." He told me softly, sounding baffled. "I can't understand…what did they do to you?" He sounded so frightened and bewildered, and I made myself smile.

"Nothing. They didn't do anything. And I'm not thirsty. I just want to get back to Edward." He gave me a look, but seemed to understand, as he nodded gently.

"Okay, sweetheart. We'll head straight to the hotel. Are you sure you aren't thirsty?" I could hear the slight disbelief in his voice and nodded.

"What happened?" I wondered, closing my eyes and resting my head against the window. He touched my hand, patting it gently.

"We'll talk about it later. You need to relax, sweetheart. You don't look well." I didn't have a reply for that. He was obviously worried, so I shut my eyes, focusing on the sound of the engine and the soft breathing of my father as he drove us to the airport.


	4. Chapter 4

Edward

I paced the room, clutching my hair in my hands. Why hadn't she called!? She'd promised that she would call! Why hadn't she called me! Or Carlisle? He'd promised that he would keep her safe. I knew that he would never let anything happen to her. Carlisle would die before he let someone hurt his family...but what if he had! What if they had hurt him and then they'd taken her?! No. I wouldn't even allow myself to think about it. I couldn't bear to think about losing them. All I could think about was her..she wasn't hurt. She couldn't be. She was fine. And Carlisle was fine. So why hadn't they called!? Well...I had thrown my phone against the wall a few hours ago, but they knew what hotel I was staying in! They knew I wouldn't be living the room until they were back...they knew how to reach me. So why hadn't they!?

The moment the ring split the silence of the room, my hand was wrapped so tightly around the receiver that it cracked the plastic. "Will you calm down?"

I sighed, rolling my eyes at the familiar voice. "Alice, what's going on?"

"They're on their way. They shouldn't more than ten minutes." I was silent for a few seconds, desperate for her to continue. "Bella's okay. They're both okay." She assured me gently. "She's exhausted."

My relief suddenly vanished to make room for fear. "What?" I was frozen in the middle of the room, my eyes gazing out the window through the half-open curtains that revealed the cloudy sky over Spain.

"She has a gift, Edward. You know that. She was able to protect Carlisle from Aro, but he had them in separate parts of the castle...it took a lot out of her." We'd heard of other Shields...sort of. There were a few vampires whose gifts worked defensively, but they were all so different. Bella was a newborn. How could she have possibly control her gift so well? "She wore herself out, but she'll be fine."

"Her gift?" I asked softly, wondering if there was any way we could learn more about it.

"I called Kate." She told me softly. "We've been talking...since Bella was still human. I was wondering about her gift, and I knew she would be able to help."

"Kate?" My mind wandered back to the Denali sisters that I hadn't seen in so long.

"They've known others with similar gifts...I was thinking she could help train Bella to use her gift." I was silent, not sure how I felt about that. Bella had gone through so much. Did she need the added stress right now? "She won't come until we ask." She assured me. "Bella is still getting used to all this...to this life. I just wanted to let you know. And we'll talk to Bella about it. They'll be pulling into the parking lot in less than five minutes."

"Okay...thanks Ali."

"No problem...stop pacing. You're going to wear a hole in the carpet." And with that, she was gone. I snorted softly, placing the phone back on the receiver, flinching a bit at the huge crack in the plastic. I'd probably have to pay for that.

It wasn't all that strange that Bella was worn out from using her gift. When surrounded by too many minds in stressful or difficult situations, I often felt the need to get away, which was how I'd discovered the meadow and other places like it. When Jasper was in a room filled with too many powerful, negative emotions, it wore on him similarly, and Alice's visions, if she concentrated too much or for too long, could lead to a sensation of pain in her head. Mental fatigue was nothing new to us. What worried me was the fact that Aro had separate Bella from Carlisle in the first place...that he had some inkling of her gift and obviously wanted it. The thought made my jaw clench in protective fury. He couldn't have her. I wouldn't allow it...he would not take her away from me.

I heard the rental car pull into the hotel parking lot and I leaned over against the window, catching sight of Bella as she stood from the automobile. They'd been gone longer than they'd hoped, but they had both returned intact, so I couldn't really complain. I was just grateful to have her back. I watched as Carlisle slipped and arm around her shoulders and kissed her hair, then led her inside, his keycard beeping softly as he let them into the building.

They had barely opened the door to my suite when I pulled Bella into my arms, holding her almost too tightly to my chest. It was a habit...making sure not to use to much strength when handling her, but a habit I was learning to break, as she returned the embrace with just as much strength. She was obviously trying to be gentle with me, which made me want to laugh aloud, but it was necessary, as strange as it felt. But all humor left me when I pulled away and got a good look at her face up close. Her eyes were pitch black and underscored with purple bruises that looked almost painful. Lifting a hand, I gently ran my thumb under her eye, her soft, warm skin giving a little under my finger. I didn't know if I'd ever get used to that...to the way her skin felt just like mine.

"Love?" I murmured, looking anxiously into her eyes. She looked is thirsty...but we'd just hunted, not three days ago, and her eyes had been a bright crimson. Now she looked like she hadn't hunted in months...like she was starving. "You look so thirsty...are you okay?" She nodded, giving me a tired smile, her fingers covering mine on her face.

"I'm fine...just tired." I nodded, glancing up at my father whose thoughts were calling out to me, illustrating what had happened. In a few seconds, I'd seen pretty much everything. I'd seen Bella on the ground, screaming in pain as Jane tortured her, refusing to stop protecting Carlisle. I'd seen Bella's worried smile that she'd given Carlisle as Felix had led her away. I'd seen Aro guiding my father to the opposite end of the castle, the terror Carlisle had felt...the way Aro had made excuses while they were talking to touch his arm, always frustrated and obviously unable to see anything that's to Bella. I'd seen Carlisle insist that Bella was a newborn and couldn't yet control her gift.

Aro had smiled, his eyes full of something like amusement. "She could be a great asset to my guard...we could teach her to harness that gift of hers." Carlisle had stiffened, reminding Aro that this was Bella's decision. And then Aro had lead him to the waiting room, leaving him for an hour to wait for Bella to emerge from the castle, having no idea what they were doing to his daughter. The relief that he'd felt when Bella had jumped into his arms, shaking and exhausted though she was, had been staggering. My father nodded to me, a faint smile on his lips as he shut the door, leaving us alone.

"You protected him." I murmured, leaning forward to kiss her gently. "But Jane..."

"I'm fine." She insisted, squeezing my hand, and I slid an arm around her back, leading her over to the bed. Just because we couldn't sleep didn't mean it wasn't nice to lay down and hold her. I sat on the bed, waiting for her to toe her shoes off, and wrapped my arms around her, smiling softly when her head rested on my shoulder, her black eyes sliding shut as he breathing evened out.

"She hurt you." I whispered, my voice pained, and she looked up at me.

"Not for long." Bella reminded me with a little shrug, and I shook my head, holding her more securely to my side.

"Aro couldn't hear Carlisle's thoughts...you protected him." She smiled a little in relief. Obviously he'd already told her that, but it was probably good for her to hear it from the mind reader. "We should go hunt. You need it."

"I'm not really thirsty." She argued, frowning a bit at me in confusion.

"The blood will get your eyes back to normal...well, normal for you." She huffed a bit when I teased her, rolling her eyes, and I knew she would be happy to have a relatively human eye color again soon. It wouldn't be too much longer. "Would you like to stay? We can stay here for the night and join the others at the house tomorrow." Carlisle was planning on going back during the evening anyway, and I wanted Bella to myself for a little while before I had to share her with the family again. I found myself looking forward to the honeymoon yet again. It would be wonderful to have her all to myself on Esme's island, the beautiful tropical paradise, isolated from humans.

If I didn't know any better, I would have thought she was asleep. Her face was buried against my neck, her soft, even breaths puffing against the skin there. Her hand still clasped mine, and her body was flush against my side, sock covered feet resting against my calves. It was the most wonderful feeling in the world, holding her like this. We'd done a lot of cuddling since she'd become a vampire. Apart from playing with the others and Carlie, it was one of our favorite pastimes, especially since we'd decided to wait for the wedding, something I was only sort of regretting. "I love you so much." I murmured into her hair, kissing the top of her head. Her lips curled into a smile as she looked up at me, her eyes tired but happy.

"I love you too." Her fingers lifted to tangle in my hair, gently scratching at my scalp, and I hummed happily, feeling like a cat as the soft noise escaped my throat. She giggled, her eyes crinkling at the corners as she leaned up and kissed my throat, the my chin, moving up to my cheek. I smirked, about to kiss her, when she moved away, missing my lips and kissing my nose instead, then my eyelids. "So much." She dropped her voice to a whisper, finally kissing me on the lips, and I placed my fingers on the small off her back, holding her against me as our lips touched, becoming more and more insistent. I dropped my head back, feeling electric pleasure at every single place our bodies touched, reminding myself again and again that Isle Esme was worth the wait.

Bella

Hunting with Edward was still one of my favorite things to do...apart form kissing him. And cuddling with him. And touching him. And talking to him...okay, so anything having to do with him was my favorite thing to do. Kissing him was a completely new experience now that I was like him...every part of my body seemed to catch fire when we touched, every single time, and it felt so wonderful...eventually, we dragged ourselves off the bed. It was nearly sunset, even though it had been a cloudy day anyway, and Edward declared that we were going hunting. I wasn't really thirsty, but I knew he wouldn't rest until the bruises under my eyes were gone. He hated to see me thirsty.

We waited until about seven, when there was no threat of sunlight, and said goodbye to Carlisle who was on his way out. We'd head back to the house sometime the next day, according to Edward, and I wasn't about to complain about some time alone with my fiancé. Edward placed an arm around me, leading me out the door after pocketing the room key, then led me out to the rental car. The hallway smelled like humans, but I still wasn't very thirsty. That made it a little easier to hold my breath and ignore it. Edward's thumb rubbed gently at the top of my arm as he led me past the front desk, and we were wished a good evening and given directions to the nearest night clubs and restaurants.

Ever the gentleman, Edward opened the passenger side door for me, kissing my forehead as I sat in the seat, then shut the door gently. "Why don't we just run?" I wondered as Edward slid into the driver's seat.

"We could be seen." He told me simply, slipping his hand into mine. "We wouldn't want the humans getting the wrong idea...or rather, the right idea." I rolled my eyes and laughed shortly, leaning back against headrest and taking his hand.

"Of course. We're just going for a picnic in the woods like any other happy young couple."

"Exactly." He murmured, leaning over and kissing me quickly. "What would you like for supper? Squirrel? Bobcat? Swan, perhaps Miss Swan?" I had to laugh at that, and he joined me.

"Swan? Really?"

"Well, birds don't have much blood in them, but it could be interesting. I can't say I've ever tried bird,except for penguin." He wrinkled his nose, but his hand squeezed mine, his thumb rubbing over the back of my hand. "Bella?"

"Hm?" He'd lost the playful tone and was looking at me seriously.

"What happened at Volterra?" His voice was so low that even I found it hard to hear, and I turned to him.

"Edward..."

"I got part of it from Carlisle...you kept Aro from reading his thoughts. But he has no idea what happened to you."

"Nothing." I assured him. "They just made me wait in a room...I did my best to concentrate on protecting Carlisle, but they just left me in there until Felix let me out." He swallowed, his jaw tightening, but they hadn't actually don't anything to me, so he just nodded, squeezing my hand.

"I don't know what I would do without you, Bella." He whispered, sounding more frightened than anything.

"You don't have to know." I told him softly, turning in my seat and squeezing his hand. "I'm fine, Edward. And now they have no reason to bother us. We can go home tomorrow, and get married and go on our honeymoon." He chuckled at the excitement in my voice, lifting my hand to kiss.

"You're right. Have I mentioned that I'm looking forward to our honeymoon?"

"You have...what you haven't mentioned is where we're going." I teased, but he shook his head lightly as he pulled off on the side of the empty road.

"I don't think so, love. You'll find out when we get there." And once more, he flashed around to my side of the car to open my door, lifting a hand to me and helping me out of the car, even if the gesture was completely unnecessary. I didn't argue...I loved it. I loved how he took my hand every chance he got, and never held back when holding me or kissing me. It was so much different now, and I loved it.

He hadn't been kidding about the swans. The one I caught was fearless, and angrily flapped its wings at me until I snapped its thin neck, sucking until the animal was dry. I grimaced a bit at the taste, much to Edwards amusement, and let the animal drop as I stood, licking my lips quickly to catch any blood I'd missed. "You'd think the stupid things would be scared of vampires." I muttered irritably. "And that was gross."

"Hm...I'd say you taste much better, Miss Swan." He flashed over to where I stood, his lips closing over what used to be my pulse point and sucked gently, making me gasp and look around quickly for witnesses, but other than the other swans that has fled to the other side of the lake, we were alone.

"What is with you today, Mr. Cullen?" I asked with a laugh that died in my throat as he became a little less gentle.

"I was separated from your for hours, and I could have lost you. I'm making up for lost time." I didn't bother arguing...this was better than brooding at least.

An hour later found us brushing off our clothes and carefully picking leaves out of one another's hair. Edward looked into my eyes, seeming to smile with satisfaction. "You look much better." He told me, kissing my on each cheek under my eyes. "So much better in fact that you'll be needing these." He pulled a case out of his pocket and laughed when I groaned. He knew I hated wearing contacts, but I didn't have much of a choice when my eyes were brilliant red. Earlier, with my eyes being black, I could just keep my head down in public, but red was a bit more noticeable. Of course, I could just tell people that they were colored contacts, but I didn't want to draw attention to myself.

Edward helped me put the annoying little spheres into my eyes, then kissed each eyelid, making me laugh softly in the moonlight. "You are so beautiful." He whispered, running his hands over my cheeks. "I'll never grow used to how absolutely stunning you are." I rolled my eyes, about to retort, when he pulled gently so that I was flush against him.

"I could say the same of you." I told him instead. Kissing him one last time, I pulled away, my lips turning up with excitement. Sensing my mood, he lifted an eyebrow. I leaned in, putting my lips right against s ear. "Race you back to the car." And then I was off, laughing aloud when I heard his footsteps right behind me.

"Once this newborn strength wears off, I'm going to be the fastest again, you know that right?" He asked, justly loudly enough for me to hear as I raced ahead of him.

"We'll see." I called back playfully, and I could almost smell the car when another scent hit me, and I dug my heels in, stopping right in front of Edward who plowed into me. I winced when his body slammed mine to the ground, quickly taking stock out of habit to make sure nothing was broken. It wasn't, of course, but I Edward was instantly anxious.

"Are you okay?" He demanded softly, rolling us over so that he could look at me. "Did I hurt you? I'm so sorry...I didn't see..."

"I'm fine." I hissed softly, trying to get him to be quiet, but he quickly caught on, jumping to his feet and pulling me with him, his arm draping over my shoulders. "Another vampire?" I asked, not too sure. He nodded, his arm too tight around me as he led me back to the car. "How..."

"Shh." He cut me off gently, kissing my hair to soften the order. We ran again, this time together, as we reached the car, then started to jump in when the scent abruptly grew closer and Edward whirled around, pushing me behind him.

The man's red eyes seemed to glow in the dark as he stared at us, lifting an eyebrow at Edwards protective stance. He offered a quiet greeting in Spanish, seeming more amused than anything, and I moved to stand next to Edward who responded. Unfortunately I'd never paid much attention in Spanish, so I had no idea what was being said. However, Edward soon relaxed a bit, nodding and smiling just a little, and I heard my name and his being said. I nodded a bit, and Edward even chuckled just a little, but he never let his arm move from around me. After a few minutes Edward gave a nod and opened my car door, but shook his head at something the other vampire said. The red eyed man backed away, nodding courteously, then raced back into the trees, blending into the darkness.

"What was that?" I asked, glancing over a bit nervously, but Edward just shook his head.

"I can't take you anywhere." His voice was just a touch relieved, but his hand was clutching mine once more. "I suppose you're still a magnet for trouble of all kinds." I waited, and he smiled over at me a little. "It was just a nomad. He was asking if this was our territory, and I explained that we were visitors, and what the color of my eyes meant." He turned to face me, ignoring the road. "Bella, are you sure I didn't hurt you? I wasn't paying enough attention and..." I lifted my hand, cutting him off.

"Edward, I'm just as strong as you are now. I'm fine...I was just surprised. I wasn't expecting another vampire to be around...how many of us are there?" He shrugged.

"More than you'd think, but not too many where we are going to live. Carlisle and Esme checked the area before selecting the house. Vampires typically choose large cities where they can prey on the homeless or junkies...no one misses them. No one gets exposed." Edward sighed, shaking his head. "The vampires name was Carlos. He doesn't have a coven. I didn't mention ours." I nodded, not responding. "We won't have any trouble with Carlos. He's just a nomad, and he's not going to bother us. I doubt he'll ever come near our hunting range anyway."

"If he wasn't dangerous, why were you acting like that?"

"Habit." He answered with a shrug, and I snorted.

"You had me worried. I thought we were going to have to fight him."

"We wouldn't have had to fight anyone. I would have fought him if the need had arisen." I rolled my eyes but didn't bother arguing. It didn't matter...if it had come down to it, I would do anything to protect Edward, just like he'd protect me...just like I had Carlisle at Aro's home. I wasn't a weak human anymore.


	5. Chapter 5

Edward

Sex is not a purely human instinct by any means. Nearly every living creature feels the pull to reproduce...to feel the pleasure in reproduction. Vampires can't have children...sure, there was pleasure in drinking human blood, and if you allowed the venom to spread, somehow holding off on that pleasure, then we could reproduce in a way. But we still possessed the desire to have sex. Maybe it was our human instincts appearing. With Bella, I had a feeling this was the case. The more time I spent with her, from the first time we'd met until now, I'd felt the attraction between us...I'd been drawn to her. And the more time we'd spent together, the more I'd felt my human instincts reappear, first the desire to be near her, and then the desire to touch her. To hold her. To kiss her. Then to touch her more and more...

Then, when we'd started dating...when I'd kissed her for the first time, it had been like nothing I'd ever experienced. The draw grew stronger and stronger. There were some nights, lying beside her in bed, that I'd watched her chest rise and fall, and I'd felt desire like never before...to touch her. To slip my hand under her clothing and just touch her. I wasn't naive...I lived in a house with three couples. I knew what touching her would lead to...exactly what she wanted. But I lived in constant fear of hurting her, so I'd insisted we wait. I'd done everything in my power to pretend that it wasn't the most difficult thing in the world to resist her. I pushed her away, as gently as I could, promising again and again that it wasn't because I didn't love her or because I wasn't attracted to her. I fought her hormones and my desperate desires almost constantly. The wedding, I'd told myself again and again. I would have her as soon as she was changed, after we got married. It would be worth the wait.

So now that she was a vampire too, just as tough, if not tougher, than me, it was getting harder and harder to convince myself that the wedding was important. She was a vampire. If I believed that she didn't have a soul, not that I could really think that about her, then her virtue, the fact that we were supposed to be married before we were intimate, shouldn't matter. Either way, I certainly wanted her. My brothers had kept their teasing to a minimum when Bella was around, but when she wasn't, which wasn't too often for my tastes, they were merciless until either we fought or Esme would scold them.

The hotel room was dark, or it would be to a human. We hadn't bothered turning on the light when the sun had went down after we'd returned from our hunting trip and our run in with Carlos, instead crawling into the single bed, her in my arms, and closing our eyes. It was the most peaceful I'd ever been, my arms around her soft body, the warmth from her skin, the same temperature as mine now, comforting as I ran my fingers over her arm. I buried my nose into her hair, taking a deep breath of her familiar scent...minus the blood. The distant hum of human thoughts were present, and in the back of my mind, I made sure to be on the lookout for other vampires, but other than that, I was fully concentrating on the woman in my arms.

"Did Alice call you?" I removed my nose from her hair and rested my chin on the top of her head, one hand under and around her side, my fingers skimming her rib cage, the other on her stomach. Her blouse had ridden up just a little, and my fingers trailed over the bare skin there.

"Yes. I was getting worried about you. She saw." Bella nodded, her hand covering mine, but I continued my exploration of her tummy.

"Sorry." She murmured, her fingers linking with mine. "I said I would call you."

"I understand." I assured her, kissing her hair, then pulled away with a smile when she turned to look at me, meeting my lips with hers. I hummed happily, closing my eyes and squeezing her against my chest, my hand drifting up to her face to stroke her soft cheeks, to move her hair behind her ear...to trace her ear with my fingertips.

"I love you." She spoke against my lips, not pulling away enough to stop touching me. "So much, Edward. I couldn't let Aro take you away from me." Her voice was suddenly frightened, and I longed to soothe her.

"No one is going to take you away from me, love." I assured her, framing her face in my hands. "I'll never let that happen. You are my life." She smiled, her red eyes soft and loving. I could see in her eyes how much she wanted me...how much she wanted all of me.

"Have I mentioned how much I'm looking forward to the wedding?" She asked impishly.

I chuckled. "Oh really? I was under the impression that you wouldn't mind getting married in Vegas."

"Well, not so much the wedding itself...but I am certainly looking forward to the honeymoon." My chuckle was caught in my throat when she turned, hitching her leg over my waist, her hips flush against mine, and I couldn't help but groan.

'Honeymoon, honeymoon.' I repeated the word over and over in my mind like a mantra, picturing her reaction to the tropical island, our own private paradise. I imagined holding her on the beach, playing in the water...the sun warming our bodies as we lay together on the porch upstairs. It was a wonderful image, being with her for the first time in that beautiful, isolated place. And if we broke the bed, we wouldn't have to repay a Spanish hotel.

"Honeymoon?" She whispered, her eyes bright and amused as she pulled away. It was hard to let her go.

"Honeymoon." I grinned back at her, giving her one last kiss before I pulled away and flipped on the TV to find us a movie to watch. I couldn't stop the smile that tugged at my face as she giggled, throwing herself back against the pillows and waiting for me to choose something.

When morning came, we hadn't really moved, and I couldn't have been happier. I kept my lips on her hair or her face, my hands finding her stomach or her sides, always touching her in some way. She giggled softly, the sound making me smile, and every once in a while, she would elbow me gently, scolding me and insisting she wanted to watch the movie. "I don't like this one." I'd grumble against her neck, nuzzling the skin behind her ear, and she giggled again.

"You picked it out!" I chuckled again, squeezing her against me, and she sighed loudly as though she we put out, but her hands covering mine, gently stroking my skin, let me know that she was just teasing.

"Are you ready to get home?" I asked once the film came to an end. She hummed in agreement, turning in my arms once more and smiling up at me.

"Yeah, we should probably go."

"We don't have to. We can stay as long as you want." I insisted, combing through her hair with my fingers. I couldn't stop touching her now that I really could...now that I didn't have to hold back, but she certainly didn't seem to mind.

"The wedding is soon...I'm sure Alice wants to talk to us about it, and my dad will be visiting soon." I shrugged.

"One day won't..." I paused when her phone began ringing, and I reached into her pocket, fishing it out and holding it up and out of her reach while she tried to grab it. Instead of letting her have it, I answered, turning it on speaker.

"If you two aren't on the plane in thirty minutes, I'm coming to get you." Alice barked, making Bella laugh.

"We're coming, Alice. I promise." Bella told her, nudging me.

"Good. I need to talk to you."

"You do know what phones are for, right Alice?" I teased, grunting when Bella was a little less gentle with her elbow. My sister hung up and Bella laughed, kissing me quickly then jumping up and out of reach to throw her clothes into her bag. I groaned, but followed suit, grabbing my own bag and putting my clothes inside.

"Speaking of phones, I think you need a new one." I glanced over at the wall, following her eyes, and smiled sheepishly at the remains of my crushed phone.

"Uh...yeah, I'll get one when we get home." She hummed, kissing me once more before disappear into the bathroom to change.

Bella

I spent the entire plane ride tucked into Edward's side, his hands running up and down my arms or sneaking under the hem of my shirt to stroke my skin. It was glorious. Before my change, Edward had been hesitant to really touch me, fearing that he would hurt me. But now, he couldn't stop. Of course, I'd known that Edward loved me. I knew that. But when he would pull away, as much as he tried to explain that he did it for his self control and so that he wouldn't hurt me, it had always hurt my feelings. But now, he couldn't keep his hands off of me...a physical reminder that he felt the same for me as I did for him. I loved it. I had a feeling that if I really wanted to, I could get us both naked right there on the plane in twenty seconds flat. He wanted the honeymoon though, and a tropical vacation sounded great, so I could wait for two weeks.

"Bella?" I frowned, turning in my seat to look at him. For once, I was glad for the Cullen's extravagance. There was no way I would have been able to make this trip without the private plane, manned by a trusted pilot and one flight attendant who was under strict orders not to enter the cabin. Therefore the scent of blood was barely present, making it easier to concentrate on the fact that Edward didn't look quite happy.

"Hm?" I reached up, touching his slightly troubled face. "What's wrong?"

"Alice wants to call Kate." He told me quietly, and I narrowed my eyes a bit, trying to place Kate. I knew her name from my human days, but I couldn't remember a face. "From the Denali coven." He clarified. "You never met her."

"Oh. Okay?"

"She thinks Kate might be able to help you with your gift...she has been talking to her, and Kate mentioned that she'd dealt with gifts like yours before...and we were going to invite her to the wedding anyway..."

"Okay...so you want her to come early?"

"Alice has been looking at the future and talking to her...she thinks Kate will be able to help you, and you know how she is. She wants to get started as soon as possible." I was quiet, leaning against him again and thinking about it. I'd never met Kate...I actually hadn't heard much about her. She was friendly with my family, and they'd been invited to the wedding. Now she wanted to come and...help me? Help me get control of it? I needed to...in case Aro came for us. My family needed all the protection it could get. I'd do anything for them...for Edward. "Love?"

"Okay." I told him quietly.

"You don't have to." He insisted, placing a hand under my chin and tilting my head up to meet his eyes. "We can do this later."

But when was it ever better to wait for later? I still didn't really feel safe...not with the Volturi around...not with Aro waiting to collect Edward and Alice...maybe even myself. I had to do everything I could to help them. "No, Alice is right. We should start as soon as possible." I argued, however much I didn't want to deal with this again...not so soon after returning from Volterra. He hummed softly, not sounding quite sure, but he nodded, kissing me quickly then pulling me into his lap. "I love you." I murmured, resting my head on his shoulder, and he wrapped an arm around me.

"I love you too." Still, I held onto him tightly, my good mood all but gone. I was scared. The reminder of my gift, of the threat against my family, was putting me on edge, and my newborn mood swings weren't helping.

The mood hadn't disappeared when we touched down, and Edward wrapped an arm around me, leading me through the private hangar where Alice and Jasper were waiting for us. Alice raced over, throwing her arms around me and then her brother, while Jasper came over a little more quietly, grinning and greeting me with a quick hug, his brow furrowed as he looked at me. "What's wrong?" He wondered. I shook my head, glancing at Edward who was watching me, Alice at his side.

"Alice..." Edward admonished.

"I knew she was going to say yes!" She whined, crossing her arms, and I looked over at Jasper with a frown.

"Kate and Tanya are here." He told me simply. "Alice called Kate as soon as she saw that you would say yes, and Tanya came along as well...Irina is still a little...upset. About Laurent." I flinched a bit, nodding. "Don't worry about it. She's still coming to the wedding. She'll be fine."

I nodded, hoping he was right. I had so much to worry about...so many things that seemed to be coming at me, despite my recent transformation into an immortal creature. The Volturi. Learning to deal with this new life and planning a wedding. The upcoming visit from my father. And now the Denalis. I remembered Edward mentioning Tanya once...he hadn't said much about her, only that he and his family had spent time with her and her sisters.

Still, meeting two new female vampires wasn't exactly on my list of things I wanted to do at the moment. I didn't want to deal with it or my 'gift.' Not now. I just wanted to enjoy my time with Edward for a little while. Get married. Go on our honeymoon. But it didn't look like that was going to happen. Then again, maybe I could talk to Edward later about it. He would understand. In the mean time, I took Edward's hand and followed Jasper and Alice out to the car that would take us home to the rest of our family.


	6. Chapter 6

Bella

Kate and Tanya were beautiful. Of course they were. All vampire women were lovely, and all vampire men were handsome, and I was sure that if we could turn Carlie into a vampire dog, she would be lovely and perfect too. And it wasn't like I had a complex about my own looks. I was a vampire now, and I knew that I was lovely. Edward loved looking at me and touching me...of course he'd always thought I was lovely. He'd always thought I was beautiful. But I knew the changes in my appearance had been for the better. So I'd somewhat gotten over my feelings of inferiority around Alice and Rose and Esme. But now there were two more females in our house...standing in the middle of the living room with Carlisle and Esme, all speaking softly with happy smiles. These girls were family, I reminded myself as I took note of their lovely bodies and long blonde and strawberry blonde hair. They were gorgeous.

I felt Edward's hand tighten around mine, and Jasper glanced over at me, his eyebrows furrowed. I smiled at him, trying to tamp down on the feelings of inferiority and worry. I couldn't really help them. But I could try to hide them. So I smiled, squeezing Edward's hands and keeping a pleasant expression when Kate and Tanya turned toward me. "Kate, Tanya, this is Bella, my fiancee." Edward introduced me, his voice caressing my name just like he always did.

"Hi, Bella. I'm Kate." The taller blonde introduced herself, stepping forward and holding out a hand that I shook with a smile. Her eyes were open and friendly, if a little reserved. Then again, their old friends were adding to their family some girl they'd never seen before. I could understand reserved. What I couldn't understand was the look the strawberry blonde woman was giving Edward and then myself.

"Nice to meet you." I told her, quickly releasing her hand and stepping back against Edward who looped an arm over my shoulders, squeezing gently.

"Tanya." The other woman stated her name warmly. Well, maybe it wasn't exactly 'warm.' I couldn't decipher her tone. "Nice to meet you Bella. I have to say, we haven't exactly heard that much about you."

Edward cleared his throat sharply, giving her another look I didn't quite get. "We haven't seen much of each other since I met Bella, and I haven't spoken to you at all since she was turned." He spoke a bit unhappily, squeezing me even more tightly, and my face felt tight from the constant struggle to keep up my smile.

"Well, it's lovely to meet you, Bella. I hope you don't mind we came a little early." Instead of looking at me, she turned to the others, smiling mostly at Edward who continued to look disapprovingly at her.

"Not at all." He answered, his tone letting me know that he was lying, but I wasn't all that sure why. Or why she was staring at him like that. Surely she didn't think...I shook the thought away before it could even form. I wasn't about to let myself even begin to suspect that. I trusted Edward completely. There was no way...he'd told me that he'd never loved a woman before me, and even if he had, he...he wouldn't lie about it regardless.

Glancing up, I found Jasper's eyes glued to me while the others seemed to be staring at Kate and Tanya until the blonde woman cleared her throat unnecessarily. "Well, it certainly is good to see all of you. Bella, Alice was telling me about your gift...you can block people from entering your mind?"

"Um...right. Yeah." I mumbled, glancing over at Carlisle and Esme who'd moved a little closer.

"Why don't we talk about that later." Edward cut in. "Emmett and Rose should be back tonight. We can all catch up." Tanya hadn't taken her eyes off of him. They followed him as he spoke, focusing on his mouth, his eyes, his body...she was looking at him with a look I recognized too well. Suddenly, I felt the urge to hiss at her...to lunge across the room and pin her to the ground. To tear her apart.

"Excuse me." I mumbled, disentangling myself from Edward and turning on my heels, making my way up the stairs so quickly that no human could track my movements. I wanted to be in our room, alone. I wanted away from that girl that stared at my fiance. I wanted my emotions to be under my control. I wanted to leave all talk of my 'gift' behind for just a little while, even if I needed to face this.

I could hear the others downstairs. Alice and Edward were silent, so I figured they were having one of their discussions. Carlisle and Esme were assuring our guests that everything was fine, that I was still learning to cope with being a vampire, that they would show them to rooms where they could stay, etc. I wondered if Edward was upset with me or if he had just been told by Alice to leave me alone for the moment. Whatever it was, Jasper apparently hadn't listened because in the next second, I heard him come up the stairs and knock on the door. His scent was distinct from everyone else in our family, and I knew it well. He knocked once more before I actually answered, and then only reluctantly.

"What's up, darlin?" I didn't answer, only stepped back to let him in, then shut the door behind him. Not really feeling like talking about how stupid I was feeling, I dropped onto the bed face first, groaning irritably into the bed. "Wanna talk about it?"

I wanted to snap at him, but he hadn't done anything wrong. This was just me being stupid. Or Tanya being infatuated with my fiancé. My mate. The love of my existence. Stupid emotions. Stupid vampire emotions that I couldn't control. Jasper sighed, dropping onto the bed beside me and placing a hand on my back. I could smell Carlie in the house and wondered why she hadn't come to greet me. Maybe she was downstairs with the others now...maybe she'd gotten herself locked in Carlisle's office again. A gentle calm stole over me, moving from the place where Jasper's hand rested between my shoulder blades up through my shoulders and down my back, moving to every extremity.

"I'm sorry." I told him simply, closing my eyes and sighing.

"You don't have to apologize." He assured me, rubbing my back and then removing his hand. Instead of speaking again, he dropped forward, leaning on his arms as he lay on the bed beside me. I could feel his gaze on me and fought the urge to shove him off the bed. He was just trying to help. And I appreciated it. But that didn't make me feel any less stupid about getting upset over nothing.

"I'm tired." I told him simply, letting my emotions speak for me. I couldn't hide anything from Jasper. So I let him feel my anger and exhaustion and jealousy and fear. He sighed softly, taking it all in and then making it disappear like he always did.

"You don't have to do this." He murmured.

"I need to."

"It can wait."

"Not really." I finally opened my eyes, rolling over to face him.

"Bella, we wouldn't let anything happen to you, you know that. Edward would do anything to protect you."

"But what about him?" I whispered, my voice so faint that I knew no one else would hear me.

"And we'll do anything to protect him. You know Carlisle wouldn't allow anything to happen to him. And you're gift protected us with Aro, don't forget that."

"Barley." I grumbled. He shook his head, ruffling my hair.

"It's going to be fine, Bells. Edward's coming up. He's worried."

"I'm fine." He shook his head, nudging me in the shoulder before sitting up. "She's just grumpy. Newborns. Always thirsty."

I gave him a sharp kick in the knee, rolling over on my back and sitting up to glare at my chuckling brother who was regaining his balance. "Bella?" Edward, on the other hand, looked concerned as he approached me. "What's wrong?"

Jasper took that opportunity to leave the room and Edward sat down beside me, putting a hand on my knee. Silently cursing my empath brother, I made myself smile at Edward, but he shook his head, touching my cheek gently. "You can tell me."

"It's nothing." I shook my head, covering his hand with my own. "I'm just tired...I mean…"

"I get it."

"Not tired." I continued to clarify. "I don't want to deal with this right now. I know I need to. But I just don't want to."

"You don't need to do anything, love. We can wait until after the wedding...after the honeymoon. This can wait. We'll go slow, okay? They're here for a visit. I know this is all overwhelming for you...and I know it was hard...with the Volturi. I'm sorry. I'm sorry you were alone." I smiled a little when he stroked my hair.

"Edward." I bit my lip, looking down at the floor, but he tucked a finger under my chin, pulling my face up to look at him. His eyes were open and gentle, and I knew that I could ask him anything. "I just...I was wondering…"

"About Tanya?" He finished for me, nodding a little. "I figured. I didn't know she was coming, but when Alice told me…" He sighed. "She has shown an interest in me from the very beginning. I've turned her down countless times...made my position clear. And she knows we're getting married. We invited her to our wedding, remember. You are the only one who has ever touched my heart." His thumb ran over my cheek, stroking the skin under my eye as though wiping away tears. "I love you, my Bella. My love. Please, never doubt that. If you want to go away somewhere…"

I shook my head, feeling more stupid than before. "No...I didn't mean to be rude to them. I'm sorry. They're your family. I just...needed to get away for a minute." He nodded, continuing to stroke my cheek. "I love you, Edward." He smiled, shifting on the bed and wrapping an arm around me.

"We're all going to get together tonight and catch up. In the meantime, we can stay up here. Do some catching up of our own." I had to giggle when he pushed me down onto my back, his lips finding mine. His hands skimmed my sides, moving up to cup my face once more, and I closed my eyes, blocking out the rest of the world until there was a scratch at our door, and Edward pulled away. "Carlie wants in." He murmured with a laugh, kissing me once more before sitting up. I reached out, fisting my hand into the fabric of his shirt and pulling him gently back down to me.

"She can wait."

Esme

This could be bad. I knew that look on Tanya's face, and I recognized the one on Bella's. I had to admit, there had been times when I'd pushed Edward toward Tanya. The may have even been times when I'd encouraged Tanya in her persual of our son. But that had only been because I'd hated seeing him so lonely, no matter how often he assured me that he was fine. Now he had Bella, and I couldn't help the guilt that ate at me now, seeing the look on Bella's face as she'd entered the room. And then she'd fled the room before really greeting us, her eyes on Tanya.

Tanya had never been subtle about her attraction to Edward, and nothing had changed. I'd seen the fear and pain and anger in Bella's eyes, and the subtle joy in Tanya's as Bella has fled the room. Edward, of course, ever the gentleman, had done his best to politely turn her away. He'd never strayed into rudeness. Ever. And maybe that was his problem. She was relentless. She wanted him. And I had a feeling that his engagement was not going to be a problem.

Edward started after Bella but was stopped by Alice who grabbed at his arm, pulling him aside and staring intently at him. Jasper sighed softly, nodding to both Kate and Tanya before following her upstairs. Kate turned to Carlisle and myself, looking apologetic, and I smiled at them, hoping to divert Tanya's attention. "Bella has had a hard couple of days." I excused her, stepping forward, and Carlisle reached down, taking my hand and squeezing gently.  
"We can show you to your rooms if you'd like." My husband spoke up, obviously trying to divert attention from Bella's retreat and the silent conversation that Alice and Edward were having. He and I moved together, leading the two down the hallway and upstairs to the spare rooms where they could stay.

Once we'd shown our guests to their rooms and hurried into Carlisle's office where we were passed by Carlie who'd somehow gotten locked in there, I turned to him worriedly. Jasper and Alice had left, and we could hear Edward and Bella upstairs while Kate and Tanya spoke quietly. "Don't worry. She's a newborn...you know how they sometimes react hastily to things. It's not her fault...emotions are hard for her to manage right now."

"It's not Bella I'm worried about." I argued, shaking my head. "You know how Tanya is." He nodded, pressing his lips together into a tight line, and I placed a hand on his face, sharing in his worry. "He needs to speak with her."

"Bella?"

"Tanya!" I my voice was more exasperated than I would have liked, but he seemed to understand, only covering my hand with his and kissing the back of the other.

"You're right...he does need to speak with her. Really speak with her. Make it clear that he isn't going to tolerate any kind of untoward behavior toward his mate. He's always been polite before...very careful with how he spoke to her, and usually I would understand that. But...Bella's emotional well-being is what is important right now."

I had a feeling that it wasn't going to be that simple. Edward had a habit of not coming out and saying what needed to be said, and Bella would mostly likely not come out and tell Tanya to back off. No, if I knew my children, they were going to make this needlessly complicated, because that's what my children did best.

"What are you thinking?" Carlisle wondered, removing my hand from his face to hold them, clasped between us as he stared down at me with equal parts worry and curiosity. It was a habit he'd picked up from Edward...wanting to know what I was thinking. And I usually told him. But I didn't know if there was anything we could do in this situation.

"I hope Bella's okay. I know it's hard for her...her gift and trying to manage it, having this sprung on her, the visit from her father coming up...I'm just wondering if this is too much. Maybe we're expecting too much, too soon." He didn't answer, only nodded, wrapping his arms around me and kissing my forehead.

"I'll speak with Kate tonight and make sure she knows not to push Bella. I know you're not worried about her right now, but maybe she can speak with Tanya. This, at least, we can talk about freely. The situation with Tanya is a bit delicate, you know." I snorted, and he chuckled. "They're old friends, and I really don't want to hurt Tanya, but Bella's happiness comes first. We all know that." I nodded, reaching up and kissing him quickly.

"Of course." I murmured. "We'll speak with Kate and hopefully she'll speak with Tanya. Edward can take Bella on her honeymoon and when they get back, we can deal with her gift." He nodded, holding me tightly so that my cheek rested against his neck.

"It'll be alright, love. I promise. Everything will be fine."

Jasper

The emotions when Bella had walked into the room had been stifling. Tanya, as she usually was, was emoting lust and desire as soon as she'd seen Edward, and then jealousy and resentment...then speculation upon seeing Bella. My own irritation surfaced before I hastily shoved it back down. No need to spread that emotion when the room was full of so many already. Edward was full of dread upon seeing Tanya, and was then hit with his own guilt, probably for never coming out and telling the woman to just leave him alone. I suppose he'd thought that she would eventually get the hint. Obviously he'd been wrong.

Bella was another story. It was impossible not to notice how Tanya was looking at her mate, and all of my sister's insecurities began to rise to the surface before they were abruptly replaced with barely contained fury and rage. I hope she didn't notice me tense for a moment before the negative emotions were tamped down and she fled the room. Edward started to go after her, but was abruptly stopped by Alice. Rolling my eyes at their silent conversation, I hurried after Bella.

Kate, who was feeling only awkwardness and embarrassment, smiled weakly at me as I passed, and I returned the expression, pushing some calm over to her before headed up the stairs where I found Edward and Bella's bedroom door shut and locked. Of course, it would have been easy to push my way in, but instead I tapped on the door, absorbing her emotions and trying to figure them out. Anger. Humiliation. I smirked a little. This was pretty standard for her.

She opened the door, then dropped back onto the bed face first, and I had to bite back the chuckle. I understood how she was feeling, honestly I did. But Edward loved her. She had nothing to fear there. Her jealousy was unfounded, as even if Tanya really did set her sights on Edward and try to break them up, Bella didn't have anything to worry about. Nothing would turn Edward away from her, but I also knew that this could cause problems within our family. Cursing Tanya, I sat beside Bella and put my hand on her back.

Of course, it wasn't just her issues with Tanya that were bothering her as I soon learned, and I felt like an idiot for not thinking about her gift and how she must be feeling after coming back from Volterra, being afraid that she would lose Carlisle or Edward...or all of us. She'd been afraid that they would make her stay, according to Alice, and she would have stayed. She would have given up her happiness and freedom so that the rest of us wouldn't be targets, and I'd always be grateful to her for that...we all would. But we also would have never let it happen. We would have stormed Volterra ourselves before seeing her become a prisoner there.

Leaving her and Edward to their...alone time, I found Alice waiting out in the hallway. Without a word, she held out her hand to me, and without asking any questions, I followed her out into the yard, and then through the forest. "Tanya's going to cause trouble." She spoke softly once we were far away and hidden by the trees.

"Why bring me all the way out here to tell me what I already know?" I asked wryly, pressing a kiss against her forehead. She smiled a little, but shook her head.

"She hasn't made up her mind yet, but that could just be because she knows how my gift works and doesn't want me to interfere with her plans."

"Surely you're exaggerating." She shook her head.

"And it's not just Tanya."

"Kate?" I frowned in confusion.

"Bella's going to have...some trouble. Developing her gift. At least, if she tries now. I didn't see it before...there weren't any decisions being made but now…"

"What do you mean?"

"Bella is scared. This is all too much for her to process right now, and she doesn't understand her gift. Neither do I...I won't until she does. But her ability to shield people is different from anything I've ever seen. She can shield herself, and others, but it takes a toll on her. Maybe if she practices, it won't. But I don't know." I reached out, taking her hands and squeezing gently.

"We'll take care of Bella, you know that. And even if we don't, Edward will. Nothing will get to Bella without going through him. This stuff with Tanya, and her gift...all of it will be fine. She's going to be fine."

"I know...it's just…" She sighed, leaning back against a tree and looking up at me. "I can barely see." Chuckling, I leaned forward and kissed her once more.

"You always get grumpy when you can't see the future." I reminded her, running my fingers through her short hair. "We'll all look out for each other, Bella and Edward will get married, and maybe everything will finally settle down. We've had enough excitement for a while." Alice didn't look convinced, but she kissed me anyway, wrapping her slender arms around my neck, and I decided that we could afford some time away before we had to go back and deal with the mess at the house.


	7. Chapter 7

Bella

'I am a vampire. My teeth are literally coated in venom. I can kill things with one bite. I could dig a tunnel to China if I really wanted to, and it would probably only take a couple of days. I am beautiful…well…no!' I shook my head sharply, not even felling stupid for talking to myself alone in my bedroom. "I am beautiful. I am a beautiful vampire."

"You know, I'm all for self affirmation, but people are going to think you're crazy if you just sit around talking to yourself about how pretty you are." I almost jumped out of my skin, wondering how I hadn't heard Emmett coming up behind me. Turning to face him with a sheepish smile, I had to laugh a little at his huge, goofy grin. "Hey, kid. Have fun in Italy?"

"You could say that." He dropped down beside me, throwing an arm around me and squeezing me to his side.

"You know, if something had happened…" He paused, turning to look me in the eye while keeping his arm around me. "If they had tried to make you stay, Edward would have torn the city apart to get you back, and the rest of us would have been right behind him. You're safe here, kid."

I nodded, resting my head on his shoulder and hugging him. "I know."

"And if it's Tanya you're worried about, because I know how ridiculous you can be, you need to stop. Edward loves you. He's marrying you. Tanya has always had a crush on him, but that doesn't matter. Don't let her get to you. Okay?"

"I know." I repeated. He chuckled, pulling away and ruffling my hair.

"And if you want me to rip off an arm…just a little reminder to keep her mitts off, just let me know." I had to laugh at that, shoving him away gently.

"I don't want to start trouble." I argued. "They're guests…they're here because of my wedding."

"Fine. No fighting. No ripping off arms. But all you gotta do is go out there and let her know that Edward is your mate. End of story. Tell her right out if you have to. Got it?"

"Yeah." I smiled a little, glancing over at the door where Carlie sat, giving Emmett a warning look from her guarding position.

"And if she's making you uncomfortable, or if you need her to go, then just tell us. Or better yet, tell her yourself. You're a beautiful vampire, right?" I shoved him off in earnest, and if I'd been human, my face would have been flaming red.

"You'd better not tell anyone…"

"Or what? What are you going to do about it?" He asked, jumping up and leaning forward, his teeth bared playfully. Following suit and leaning forward, hands clasped into fists, I bared my own teeth, ready to play as well.

"You two had better not be fighting in the house!" We both froze in position when Esme's voice floated up from the kitchen, and grinning playfully, I turned and sprinted toward the open window, enjoying the thrill as I leapt out without hesitating, landing gracefully and turning just in time to see Emmett behind me.

Distraction flew out the window when I saw Emmett ready to play, and I feigned right, then left, throwing him off as best as I could. However, my brother wasn't fooled. He'd been play fighting for longer than I'd been alive, and I was still a newborn. The second he lunged, I was running, feet touching the ground so lightly that the sound was nearly silent, even to me. He was right behind me, and I managed to turn before we got to the trees, heading back to the house where the others were probably wondering what we were doing. Rosalie appeared on the porch, snorting in amusement and giving a halfhearted wave. I managed to wave back before I was abruptly tackled, Emmett's bulk pinned me to the ground.

"Get off!" I whined, trying to elbow him from my pinned position underneath him, but he refused to relent, chuckling as I struggled. "Emmett!"

"You wanted to play!" He reminded me, teeth against my neck. Instead of giving in, I managed to give him an elbow to the face, narrowly missing his teeth with my pointed bone, and he jerked his face away. "Hey! I had you pinned, you little cheat!" I struggled, nearly escaping right before Emmett's weight was removed abruptly, a soft snarl echoing through the clearing. Looking over at the giant, pinned to the ground, teeth pressed against his neck, I smiled at my savior who sat up with a grin.

In the next instant, I'd leapt across the clearing, tackling Edward and laughing when he let me pin him. Almost an hour into our make out session, Edward had finally pulled away, reminding me of the wedding and the honeymoon and the wonderful vacation we were going to have soon…how it would all be worth it. I'd agreed, of course, knowing deep down that he was right but not wanting to stop. Kissing him was so wonderful…I could have done it for hours. But it was getting harder and harder to stop at just that, not that we hadn't gone a bit further.

Regardless, he'd left after a moment of sitting up on top of me, his eyes boring into my own until he'd seemed to visibly shake himself out of his trance. With that, he'd left the room, letting Carlie come in and excusing himself, claiming that he needed to speak with Carlisle. I was pretty sure I knew what he wanted to talk to him about, but it wasn't something I'd wanted to think about. Now, pinning him to the ground, my lips hovering just over his, my talk with Emmett fresh in my mind, I knew that it was something we needed to talk about.

Edward must have sensed my mood change, as he sat up, his hands gently steadying my waist as he shifted. Running his thumbs over my hips, finding the sliver of skin there, he rested his forehead against mine. Rolling his eyes, Emmett grumbled about spoilsports and loped back to the house. Everyone else was inside, with Rose having retreated back from the porch, leaving us pretty much alone. If we were quiet, no one would be able to hear us. Of course, we could have gone further away, but the family meeting was going to happen soon anyway, and I wanted to speak with Edward first.

"I need to work with Kate…to figure out how to use my gift."

"Bella, we've talked about this." He murmured, stroking my face with his knuckle, looking concerned. "You don't need to worry about that right now. When we get back from the honeymoon…"

"Edward." I interrupted softly, squeezing the wrist of the hand on my face. "I need to do this. I want to start as soon as possible. That way, if Aro comes here…"

"He won't…"

"Edward." I interrupted again, this time letting some exaggeration slip into my voice. He closed his mouth, pressing his lips together. "If Aro comes here, or if he sends anyone after us, then I'll be ready to help." His golden eyes stayed on my red ones for a long time, thoughtfully watching me, his hand still on my face.

"I don't want you to have to worry about anything. Not now…after everything. After the last few months, and now after what happened in Italy. Aro isn't going to come after us, and even if he decided to, Alice would see. And we would have time to prepare. Okay?"

"I still want to do this. Kate came all this way to help me."

"Kate will understand."

"I still want to do this." I repeated, keeping my expression firm. I had to face this. All of this. Including Tanya, who ignored me and stared at my mate as though she would take him from me. But she couldn't. Because I was a vampire and, more importantly, because Edward loved me. And I loved him. That was all that mattered to me.

Edward

Bella stared fiercely into my eyes, her chin lifted in defiance, her nose so slightly wrinkled like it always was when she got upset. It was adorable. She was so beautiful…but I couldn't let on that I found her enchanting, even when she was angry. She was strong enough to actually hurt me at this point if I made her really mad. If Bella wanted to work with Kate, that was up to her. I just didn't want her to think that she had to do anything. And while I didn't know if she was upset about Tanya, and I didn't particularly want to bring that up right now and talk about it, I felt like it was probably something we should address. Again.

"You know that I support whatever you want to do." I murmured. "And you know that I love you, right?"

Her lips curved up, and she leaned forward, giving me a quick kiss. "I know. I love you too Edward. So much." I could see the relief in her eyes, the way she seemed to sag a little, and I realized that her reaction to Tanya might have been more serious than I'd though. I'd thought it was just jealousy. Surely she couldn't possibly think that I would ever want anymore but her. I shifted, placing both hands on her face.

"I love you." I repeated, hoping to show her with my eyes how serious I was. "My Bella…my love. You have to know that. I love you so much…I would never choose anything or anyone over you. And if having Tanya here makes you uncomfortable, I'll kick her out myself." I meant it. I hated being rude, especially for family friends and women, but Bella came first. My fiancee shook her head, smiling softly, and I knew that although she probably wouldn't take me up on it, I'd said the right thing.

"I was just taken by surprise."

"I'm sorry love. I didn't know she was coming. Alice didn't think to warn me." I rolled my eyes. "I'll yell at her for that later."

"Don't worry about it. Maybe she was just expecting Kate."

"I believe so."

"I'll be fine. It won't be a problem." She spoke so firmly that I had to believe her.

"Do you promise to tell me if it becomes a problem?" I asked. Of course, I would watch her carefully, and if I suspected something was wrong, I would step in and make sure to speak with her, but I also wanted her to know that she could talk to me about anything. I hoped she already knew this, but Bella could be stubborn, and if I'd learned anything since meeting her, it was that sometimes I needed to remind her of things like this.

"I promise." She leaned her forehead against mine once more, then touched my lips gently with hers. Slipping my arms around her waist, I pulled her closer, enjoying the sensation of simply touching her…of kissing her. There was nothing better in my mind than this, so I couldn't begin to imagine how wonderful the honeymoon was going to be.

Kate and Tanya were both in the adjoining rooms that Carlisle had shown them where they would be staying, pretty far away from where Bella and I lived. Still, I wasn't sure if we were far enough for her liking. Tanya wasn't so bad, and I hoped that she would get over her infatuation with me soon. Kate, on the other hand, was thinking about Bella. She was anxious to try out my mate's gift, and was curious to know how this was going to work. Several thoughts ran through her mind, from testing it out herself to motivating Bella to expand her shield to cover others. Of course, this was something Bella had already done, but it had exhausted her, and as far as I knew, she wasn't sure how to do it on command.

It could be that it was something she had to exercise, which was the hypothesis Carlisle was leaning toward. He too wanted to study this gift of Bella's but he agreed with me that we might should wait until after the honeymoon. Bella needed a break, and so did I. It was getting exhausting, all of this worrying and secrecy and fear for one another. I just wanted some time alone with her without having anything else on my mind.

'I'd like to speak with everyone.' Carlisle thought it first, informing me before actually calling for anyone. I stood, keeping Bella in my arms as I did so, and she kept her legs around my waist, her lips moving to mine once more.

"Ready for a family meeting?" I asked, moving my arms and letting her down. She landed lightly on her toes, darting forward to kiss me on my cheek, then pulled away with a smile, keeping my hand.

"Yeah."

"And you're going to start working with Kate?" She sighed, but kept her smile.

"Yes. It's what I want."

"Okay. But I want to be there. I want to help." Her eyes softened as she squeezed my hand, her thumb rubbing over the back of mine.

"Okay. Let's go." Pulling me along, I let her lead me back to the house, listening for the thoughts of my family and our visitors. Carlisle and Esme were worried about Bella, and they wanted to speak to her and make sure she was okay, but they also wanted to get this meeting out of the way. Emmett was unconcerned as usual, and Rose was flipping through a fashion magazine, trying to find a pattern for her dress that she would wear to our wedding for Alice to make. Jasper and Alice were talking about Tanya and Kate, trying to puzzle out if there was going to be any real trouble with them. Our visitors were both thinking about Bella, and I slipped out of their minds, trying to focus on Carlisle instead.

He wanted to give us all a chance to catch up, and while he also wanted to make sure that peace was kept for the next few weeks, especially with Charlie, Sue, Sue's children, and Angela coming up for the wedding. He'd already bought them all plane tickets, first class of course, and they would be staying in a guest house, so that they wouldn't have to live with the vampires. Still, he didn't want any fighting within his family, and Tanya would need to be reminded that I had a mate that I loved more than anything and that there would be consequences to hurting her.

My parents were the only ones in the living room, and they looked carefully at Bella who smiled at them easily, letting them know that she was okay. My father's eyes flashed down to our joined hands and his lips turned up at the corners, pleased to know that everything was okay. Bella took a seat on the love seat adjacent to them, and I sat beside her, tucking her into my side, my arm wrapped firmly around her. Carlie, who'd been spending time with Bella up until Emmett had joined her, trotted down the stairs, tail wagging as she sat at Bella's feet, and she leaned forward, stroking the dog's head quickly. When she sat back against me, Carlie moved her head to Bella's leg, content just to be in a room with us for the moment. "Jasper, Alice, Rosalie, Emmett?" Carlisle spoke in a slightly raised voice, and in a few nano seconds, they appeared in the living room, taking various seats around the room. Looking around and meeting the eyes of every family member, Carlisle nodded a little to himself and spoke again. "Kate, Tanya? Would you mind joining us?"

Another half second passed and the two women were standing in the doorway, looking around at all of us. After a few seconds of looking at us, they moved over to a couple of chairs across from Carlisle and Esme. Tanya glanced over at me with a little smile, and I gave her a brief polite look, tightening my arm around Bella and kissing her cheek, knowing that I was laying it on thick and not caring. I wanted to make sure to get the point across. I loved Bella. Only Bella. Tanya was doing nothing more than making a fool of herself for continuing to set her sights on me.

'What on earth did he ever see in her?' I flinched a bit at Tanya's bitter thoughts, but as long as she didn't say them aloud, I had no right to yell at her. She could think what she wanted, as long as my Bella wasn't hurt. The woman beside me glanced over, her eyes tentatively meeting mine, and I smiled, tucking some hair behind her ear.

"I apologize for my behavior earlier." Bella suddenly spoke up, looking around me and right at Kate and Tanya. Carlisle seemed started, as he had apparently been about to speak, but he sat back, waiting for her to finish. "It's been a rough couple of days…meeting with the Volturi." Bella explained easily, squeezing my hand.

"Of course…we really are glad to finally meet you in person, Bella. You seem to have taken to our lives well." Bella smiled, dropping her head in a nod of agreement. "Alice told me about your gift…you can shield others from mental invasion?" She hesitated, glancing over at Carlisle and then me.

"Bella can shield herself from mental invasion." I corrected. "I've never been able to read her mind. And once, after her change, she shielded Jasper from me, but only for a few seconds. What happened in Italy…that was the first time she's ever consciously shielded someone and for that long….it exhausted her completely."

"Exhausted you?" Kate asked, leaving forward.

"I felt tired, like I haven't since my change. And my head hurt." Carlie whined a little, shifting until she was lying down on top of Bella's feet.

"Like when I try too hard to see something." Alice chimed in softly. "Or when I'm around the wolves." Kate's mind was whirring, going in circles as she tried to puzzle it out.

"Do you think, with practice, you could use your shield without it being painful?"

"I don't know." Bella shrugged. "I sort of just found out about it. And we haven't had much free time to try and figure it out."

"Well, we'd better get to work."

"Actually…" Carlisle cut in, leaning forward in his chair. "We haven't actually discussed this. Alice sort of sprung it on us." He gave Alice a fondly exasperated look. "Of course, if Bella wants to work with you to develop her gift, then we'd love to do anything we could to help. But right now, we're trying to focus on the wedding, and on the upcoming visit. Bella's father and friends are coming to stay with us for a few days before the wedding."

"Right…of course. It's up to Bella." Everyone was suddenly focused on my mate, and I held her more tightly, kissing her cheek once more.

"You don't have to decide this right now." I reminded her softly.

"I want to do this." She countered, her red eyes meeting mine, and then she turned to Kate. "I want to do this." She repeated. "As soon as possible. I want to learn how this works."

"Then we'll all help." Carlisle informed her, looking between Bella and Kate. "However we can…research, training…whatever you need to learn all you can about your gift. But we'll take it slow. There really is no hurry, Bella." It was a firm reminder, not to take it too quickly. I read it in his thoughts; Carlisle wanted to make sure that everyone knew that this was to be taken seriously and that Bella shouldn't be pushed too far too fast. She was a newborn…a strong, somewhat impulsive creature, and for the moment, she had to be watched carefully. If she got angry or too upset, she could attack without thinking. And then someone could get hurt.

"Why don't we start tomorrow?" Kate asked, glancing over at Tanya. "Just me and Bella…" Kate caught my look. "And Edward, of course." She amended, and I gave her a short nod, looking at Bella for confirmation. She was thoughtful for a moment, and then she met my eyes, nodding.

"Okay."

"We'll be nearby." Carlisle put in, looking carefully between Kate, Bella and myself, and Tanya, who hadn't yet spoken. "You should work with her nearby…just in case. Edward being there will be a necessary precaution, but I'd like to be nearby as well." Bella was looking at me a little nervously, and I pulled her gently to lean against me, her hand squeezing mine.

"It's just for safety…to make sure that you're okay. This kind of thing can go too far if we're not careful."

"I'd like to speak with you, Kate, about what you intend to do."

"Of course." Kate stood, following Carlisle upstairs, and as if a switch had been flipped, the others dispersed, Jasper and Alice to the woods outside, Emmett and Rosalie upstairs, and Esme to the room off to the side where she'd taken up painting again. We all cycled through our hobbies, picking things up and dropping them over the years as we grew bored. Esme hadn't painted for a while, but her pieces were always beautiful and sold for quite a bit of money when she decided to sell them and donate the money to various charities. At the moment, however, she was doing a painting of Bella and myself as she'd seen us one day. I'd seen the image in her mind…Bella and myself sitting on the ground with Carlie in the sun. In her painting, she planned to nix the sparkling, but everything else was true to life, and it was coming along beautifully. It was going to be a wedding gift to us, and even though I knew it was coming, I appreciated the sentiment, and I knew Bella would be delighted.

My fiancee stood, crouching to pet the dog who'd jumped up when the others had moved, disappearing from view. Tanya watched the two of them as Bella rubbed Carlie's head lovingly, leaning forward and kissing the dog's head. "Bella, why don't you take Carlie out?" I asked, putting a hand on her shoulder. She glanced up at me, and then at Tanya who was still sitting, watching us openly.

When Bella's eyes met mine, there was just a bit of hurt there, and I pulled her up and against me, pressing my lips against hers. "I'll join you in just a moment, love."

Bella took a deep breath, then to my surprise, she glanced over at Tanya, a hard look in her eyes. "I'll be right outside." She told me simply, squeezing my hand then patting her hip, gesturing for Carlie to follow her.

"It's so good to see you again, Edward." Tanya told me softly, and I turned abruptly, facing her with a hard look on my face.

"I'm only going to say this once, Tanya. If you do anything, anything at all to hurt Bella or to make her uncomfortable, I will personally escort you out of this house. Do you understand?" Never in my life had I spoken to a woman, much less a family friend in such a way, but nor had I ever felt this strongly about someone. "I have no interest in anyone but Bella."

"Edward, you know…"

"Tanya, I mean it." I snapped, crossing my arms irritably, and she stood, moving over to me.

"Fine. I get it. I won't hurt Bella or say anything to make her uncomfortable." She repeated, rolling her eyes just a little at the end, and I gritted my teeth.

"Tanya, I swear…"

"I get it!" She repeated a little more genuinely, holing up her hands. "Really…I get it. I mean…I don't get what you see in her…" She cut me off when I started to protest. "I'll behave. Really. I will." A flash of resignation passed over her face, and she gave a tiny smile. "I'll be nice."

"You'd better." I answered, refusing to feel any pity for her. We'd see if she was really going to behave. And if she did, and if she was kind to Bella and if Bella was comfortable with it, then maybe we could all be friends. But the moment I suspected that Bella was unhappy with her here, then I'd kick her out myself.

Nodding goodbye, I headed out to the porch where I found Bella, smiling softly at me as she held Carlie in her arms. Joining her, I reached out a hand, gently helping her to her feet as though she were human again, carefully cupping her face in my hands. "My love..." I murmured, meeting her lips with mine, and Carlie was forgotten for just a second as I held her, right up until the growing dog jumped up on her back paws, leaning on me and whining. "Okay, okay." I chuckled, breaking away from Bella and bending over to stroke the dog's head. "Let's go for a walk."


	8. Chapter 8

Bella

Edward threaded his fingers through mine, squeezing my hand firmly as we stood in the clearing. A few feet away, Carlie lay on the ground, her muzzle on her paws, her eyes trained on us. Kate, her back to the house which was visible in the distance, stood across from us, her arms crossed as she regarded me carefully. Edward met her eyes, obviously reading her thoughts as she planned out what we were going to be doing. Finally, she stepped forward, her eyes softening as she turned to me. "I just wanted to test it first." She told me, holding out her hand. "You can block Edward without even trying, and you were able to block Jane. My gift is similar to hers." She must have noticed my eyes widening in almost-fear. "Don't worry…I'm not sadistic about it." She assured me, moving closer, and I watched as she held out a hand. Edward glanced over at me, rubbing his thumb over the back of my hand.

I held out my other hand to her, waiting, and a few seconds later, her fingers touched mine. Her hand was warm, just like Edward's as it rested in mine. He stood tensely beside me, his eyes darting over to mine, and then relaxed. "That's incredible…I've never met anyone who could block me." She smiled, withdrawing her hand, and wiggled her fingers at Edward, a clear offering. He snorted, shaking his head, and she laughed.

"It's like an electric current." He explained to me. "I've heard it in the minds of others…I'm not eager to try it myself." He was lighthearted, his eyes bright and amused, but he must have seen me tense. "Don't worry. Much like Jane's gift, Kate's attack is mental. No long term damage."

"Okay, so first why don't we see if you can stop shielding yourself." Kate suggested. Not sure what she was asking of me, I tried to find that feeling that I'd tapped into to protect Carlisle while we were in Volterra, but I couldn't find it, especially with Kate and Edward staring at me. From her place on the ground, even Carlie watched me, her tail pounding the grass. In the distance, I could see Carlisle and Esme standing in the kitchen, watching us from behind the sink. The others were dispersed throughout the house, probably listening in, but not wanting to crowd me. For some reason, Jasper was on alert, ready to 'step in' should we need him. I had no idea what we could need him for, but the others seemed to agree. Something about me being a newborn or something.

For a few hours, Kate tried to talk me through the process, trying different methods, likening my gift to a rubber band and to a force field and even to a blanket. No luck. And then Kate began eyeing Edward who'd remained at my side the whole time, showing none of my impatience. Instead, he was the one who remained calm, rubbing his hand against my back and promising me that we had plenty of time to work on this and that I had no reason to get upset.

His fingers squeezed mine as he watched Kate as she tried to process her thoughts. For a moment, he looked a bit reluctant, and then he smoothed his features to smile at me reassuringly. "What?" I asked, looking between Edward, who still looked a bit reluctant, and Kate, who was smiling widely between us.

"I thought we'd try seeing if you can shield Edward."

"Edward?" I looked over at him for a split second before my eyes widened and I shook my head. "No!"

"Bella, it's okay. It's just a little shock." He assured me, lifting his hand and pushing my hair out of my face and behind my ear. "It's fine. I want to help you. Kate thinks that this might motivate you. It might make it easier for you to use your shield."

Of course he was right. The only times I'd successfully used my shield had been when I was under stress, trying to keep Edward from finding out what had happened with the wolves, or in Volterra, when I'd been trying to protect Carlisle from Aro. If Edward was in trouble…I could shield him, right? "Are you sure?" I asked quietly, hoping he knew that I would never ask this of him…I would never want him to be hurt.

"Of course. I'll be fine. Come on." He tugged me forward, chuckling when I let him pull me into his arms, wrapping his arms around me. Kate laughed softly, moving over to where we stood.

"Ready?" She asked with a smile, her arms crossed. I nodded, closing my eyes and focusing on Edward. I needed to protect him. Kate was going to hurt him. I had to keep that from happening. Suddenly, he tensed beside me, gasping a little, and I gripped his arm, my eyes flying open.

Kate pulled her hand away, and Edward relaxed, giving me a little smile. "it's fine." He assured me.

"I'm so sorry." I shook my head, looking over at Kate. "No more. No…"

"Bella, it's fine." He touched my face again. "Look, I'm fine."

"She hurt you and I can't protect you and…" Although he'd been all for waiting, he obviously knew that I wanted to learn this as soon as possible, and he continued to shake his head, his eyes softening.

"Bella, it's fine. You're still getting the hang of it. Why don't we try again?"

"Edward…" I shook my head.

"It's just a little shock. It barely hurts. Why don't we try again?" I had no idea if he was lying…he seemed sincere enough.

"Okay." I sighed, seeing that he was determined. Once more, I tried to remember how it had felt in Volterra, to find the shield and cover Edward with it. I remembered standing in the room with Carlisle…of picturing him…I remembered covering him with protection…remembered keeping him safe from Aro's gift and Jane's…I could do this. I could protect Edward. I had to be able to protect Edward. I'd protected Carlisle! I opened my eyes this time, looking over at Edward and watching as Kate's hand came closer and closer. 'She's going to hurt him. I have to stop her from hurting him. I have a shield…I can protect him…' But no mater how hard I tried to remember how it felt, I couldn't get the shield to work for me. Edward flinched sharply, his jaw clenched, and I fought the urge to shove her away from him…to tackle her and sink my teeth into her neck. She was hurting Edward!

Kate stepped away, hands in the air, and Edward kissed my forehead. "It's okay love. Let's try again."

"No…" I shook my head, grabbing at his hands. "Edward, no!"

"Bella, love, you have to calm down." He seemed genuinely concerned as he grabbed at my hands and tried to pull me close. "Please don't be upset. We're just trying to help you get your shield to work…to get you used to using it. We don't have to do this."

"Bella, I'm just trying to motivate you. I think you'll get the hang of this more quickly if you're trying to protect someone you love." Suddenly, her eyes cut over to where Carlie lay on the ground and Edward stiffened.

"No!" He snarled, and immediately following their train of thought, I bared my teeth, growling furiously. Flashing over to Carlie's side and startling her, I stood in between them, letting Kate know in no uncertain terms that she wasn't touching my dog.

"It was just a thought!" She defended herself, raising her hands in surrender and stepping back. As if out of nowhere, Jasper suddenly appeared at my side, his hackles obviously up. "It was just a thought!" She repeated, looking between the three of us incredulously. "I wasn't going to hurt her dog!" Jasper looked over at me, assessing me with both his eyes and his gift, and Edward studied both of us carefully. "Can we keep going?"

"Maybe we should wait until tomorrow…" Edward no longer seemed so sure about this, and Jasper too seemed a bit reluctant.

"Can't we try another way?" I wondered, looking at Kate. "Without hurting Edward?"

"If you can't do it to protect Edward…" Kate trailed off, wincing at my expression, and Jasper touched my shoulder for a second, a wave of comfort washing over me.

"How about you try protecting me?" Jasper suggested, winking, and Edward flashed over to my other side, taking my hand.

"Let's just keep trying with me." He disagreed, shaking his head at Jasper.

"Try and remember what you did while you were in Volterra." She suggested, as if I hadn't thought of that before, and I had to restrain myself from rolling my eyes. Jasper snorted beside me, stepping away and watching as we moved back to our original positions. Over by Carlie, Jasper crouched down, rubbing her head and ruffling her ears. I laughed quietly as she rolled over, eagerly begging for a belly rub, and Edward flinched beside me.

A snarl built in my throat as I glared at Kate. "I wasn't ready!" I snapped.

"Well, if the Volturi comes here, how much time do you think they'll give you to 'get ready?'" I snarled again in frustration as Edward tightened his grip on my hand, and over beside Carlie, Jasper was straightening slowly, his eyes darting between the three of us.

"Kate, she's still learning to control it." Edward murmured.

"You were able to shield Carlisle from Aro for hours…just try and remember what you did then."

"I'm trying! That's what I've been doing!" I snapped.

"Look, I get it. This is new for you." Kate sighed. "Let's try again. Are you ready?" The patronizing tone grated on my nerves, and if Edward hadn't held tightly to my hand, I might have pounced. As it was, I watched her approach, closing my eyes and trying to remember how it felt to be in Volterra, in the creepy, dark castle with Aro just a few hallways away…how it felt to do my best to protect Carlisle…the building pain in my head as he moved farther and farther away…

"Bella!" My eyes snapped open just as I realized that the pain was real, pounding in my head, but Jasper, Edward, and Kate were all looking at me in surprise.

Edward

This wasn't going well. At all. Bella was on edge, desperate to master her gift and protect us from the Volturi, even though they had no reason to come here. Kate was doing her best to keep Bella on edge in the hopes that that would make it easier for her to use her gift. Jasper stood over by Carlie, monitoring Bella's quickly evaporating patience, and I squeezed her hand, hoping this wouldn't turn into a fight. I rubbed my thumb over the back of her hand, listening to Jasper's thoughts. 'She's getting too frustrated. I think we need to end this soon.' My brother told me silently. I had to agree. I understood that Kate wanted Bella to master her gift. And I understood that Bella wanted to get a handle on this as soon as she could. Because she thought we were in danger from the Volturi. There wasn't much of a point to arguing that. It was true…if the Volturi thought to check on us, there was a chance we would be in danger. But Alice would see them before they arrived. It was something we would have to talk about later.

Kate approached once more, and I braced for the awful shock. It was similar to what Jane did, only Kate wasn't sadistic, thankfully. Still, I tried to downplay the jolt of pain when she touched me. Only this time, much to my surprise, I didn't feel anything except the feeling of her fingers on my arm. More than that, it was as if I was suddenly enclosed in a sound proof bubble. The thoughts of Jasper and Kate cut off abruptly, and all I could hear was the almost silent sound of their breathing. I looked over at my fiancee but her eyes were closed, a little wrinkle between her eyebrows as she concentrated. "Bella!" I cried, excited at her triumph, and her eyes flew open to meet mine. "It's working! I didn't feel anything."

Kate grinned triumphantly, and I felt a strange twinge as I realized that I still couldn't hear her thoughts. Jasper flashed over to Kate's side, looking between the two of us, obviously bewildered, but I couldn't hear anything from him either. Whatever Bella was doing, however, seemed to only effect me, as Kate so helpfully demonstrated, reaching out and touching Jasper's arm. He flinched, jerking back and giving her a look, and Bella growled softly. "Well, whatever we did, it worked."

I shoved down a flash of irritation, squashing down the urge to point out that it was Bella doing the work. We were all just a bit on edge…we'd been out here for hours, trying again and again to help Bella master her gift, and I knew it was hard on Bella, seeing me hurt in any way. I was grateful to Bella's gift for protecting her from vampires with powers like Jane and Kate. Still, I knew we should be grateful to Kate for helping us…I just thought we should take a break for the day.

Jasper was looked at me expectantly and I shrugged, smiling a bit. "I can't hear anything." I turned to Bella who's hand was tightly clasping mine, as Kate was trying again and again to shock me, to no avail. "You're shielding me." I told her, squeezing her hand and chuckling when her eyes lit up. "You're doing it, Bella." Leaning down, I kissed her gently, my lips moving slowly over hers. "You got it." I whispered.

"Not yet." Kate interjected, and I gave her a look. Bella, on the other hand, just nodded.

"She's right. I can only shield one person, and I'm holding your hand."

"But you're shielding me. That's really good progress after only a few hours of work." I reminded her, stroking her cheek and hoping that Kate would back me up.

"Why don't we try separating the two of you…see how far away he can get before it's too much." Kate suggested, crossing her arms and regarding us thoughtfully. Jasper was looking between us, wary and attentive, but I kept my eyes on Bella, wondering what she thought of this idea.

"Okay…" Bella glanced over at me. "But then we'll stop after that." I kissed her again.

"We can stop whenever you want." I reminded her. "We can always keep working tomorrow."

"Okay, how about Bella and I wait here and Kate, you and Edward go and test how far away you can get before Bella can't shield you anymore." Jasper suggested, moving to Bella's side and slinging an arm around her shoulder. I met Bella's eyes, nodding when she did.

"Alright. Edward, we'll keep moving away until Bella's gift isn't affecting you anymore." Kate smiled, bouncing backward and gesturing for me to follow. With one last kiss and a look for Jasper, I followed Kate into the woods.

It was disconcerting to be, for all intents and purposes, deaf. Kate ran in beside me, moving slowly. At first, we just edged toward the edge of the clearing, Kate's hand on my arm, but I still felt- and heard- nothing. It was like I was totally disconnected from…everyone. I was used to it with Bella. But not with Jasper and Kate and the rest of my family. Trying to shake that off, I followed Kate into the woods, surprised when we made it several hundred feet away and still, Kate's touch had no effect on me. I was sure she was using every bit of her strength behind her gift, hoping to get to me, but Bella's shield held strong.

We were out of sight, thanks to the trees, and nearly out of hearing range, when I felt just a slight jolt as Kate touched me. Jerking back a bit, I looked back towards where Bella and Jasper waited, then held my arm out. "Try it again. I barely felt it." She obliged, but this time, nothing happened. "Still works."

"This is incredible. I can't believe she's getting the hang of it so quickly! I'll bet by the end of the week she'll be able to shield your whole family at once."

"Let's take it a day at a time." I warned her. "I don't want to overwhelm her with this." Kate nodded speculatively, then gave me a little smile.

"I wonder…" She trailed off, reaching out and taking my arm. Instead of touching me and then letting go, she held on, concentrating fiercely, her eyes closed, until we suddenly heard Jasper's raised voice.

"Let it go, Bells! Come on, darlin…Edward!"

Jerking my arm away from Kate, I ran flat out, making to the clearing in front of our house in seconds. We hand't gotten that far away. In the center of the clearing where we'd left them, Bella and Jasper knelt on the ground. Bella's face was drawn and paler than normal, hands shaking as she clutched her head and made tiny, distressed sounds as she rocked back and forth. Beside her, Jasper held her shoulders, giving me a worried look. Still, Bella shielded me. I couldn't hear anything from their minds! From the house, the rest of the family came running, Carlisle and Esme leading the group as they came to a halt a few feet away by our dog, watching anxiously as Bella leaned against Jasper.

"Bella, love, let it go." I urged her, flashing to her side and kneeling in front of her. "Come on, Bella. It's okay. We're done for today. Kate's not trying to hurt me anymore. You don't have to protect me, okay? Let the shield go." With a bleary, pained look in her eyes, Bell looked up at me, and the sounds of my family's minds seemed, for a moment, so loud and overwhelming that I flinched, briefly wishing for the silence again. It was incredible not to hear the thoughts of everyone within a mile's radius…but I didn't have time to think about that. Instead, I pulled Bella against me, running one hand through her hair and kissing her forehead.

Her eyes, when they'd focused on me, had been just as black as when she'd returned with Carlisle to our hotel, and they were underscored by the same dark bruises. Her jaw was clenched as though she was in pain, and she slumped against me, somehow seeming exhausted. 'This doesn't make sense.' Jasper thought worriedly, keeping his hand on her back. 'Nothing she make her react like this…she shouldn't be tired. Not physically. I've never seen anything like this.'

Carlisle was thinking the same thing…he'd never seen a vampire react like this after using their gift. I rubbed Bella's back, placing my lips against her forehead. Kate stayed back, moving to Tanya's side, while Carlisle joined us. "Bella? Sweetheart, look at me." He murmured, touching her under her chin until she looked up at him with black eyes. "Are you in pain?"

"My head." She murmured, slumping against me once more, and I lifted her easily into my arms, rubbing a thumb against her shoulder. To everyone's surprise, except Kate and Tanya who, of course, barely knew Bella, my fiancee didn't even protest. Instead, she let her head rest on my shoulder, and her eyes closed, a wrinkle still present between her eyes.

"I'm taking her inside." I told them simply. To Kate, I nodded brusquely, feeling more than a little irritated with her for pushing Bella. "We're done."

"She's getting better and better…we were almost half a mile away, and she could still shield you." Kate argued, and Carlisle glanced between the two of us.

"When did the pain start?" My father asked Jasper, and I kept my mind on their thoughts as I carried Bella inside, Carlie trotting along beside me.

"Just before they came back." Jasper told him. Emmett and Rosalie stared worriedly at us as we walked by, but I was focused only on the girl in my arms whose eyes were opening just as I walked across the threshold.

"You don't have to carry me. I am a vampire now." She reminded me with a slight smile turning the corners of her mouth.

"You were in too much pain to hold your head up." I told her softly. "Besides, I never get to carry you anymore…I miss it." I teased, kissing her gently and holding her closer. In just a few seconds, we were in our bedroom, and I had laid her on the bed, crawling up to lay beside her. She turned to face me, snuggling up next to me, and I kissed her again. Downstairs, I could hear Carlisle speaking with Jasper, and outside Kate and Tanya were discussing Bella as well. "How are you feeling?"

"I'm okay…I don't know what happened."

"You were shielding me…we were pretty far away, and no matter how hard Kate tried, she couldn't hurt me." I ran my fingers through her hair leisurely, flinching when I caught sight of the bruises under her eyes. "Do you need to hunt again?"

She shrugged. "I'm not really thirsty." Before she could answer, the door was pushed open, and Carlie jumped up onto the bed, worming her way between us and licking me in the face, making Bella laugh.

"I think it will make you feel better."

She closed her eyes, leaning her forehead against mine. "Okay."


	9. Chapter 9

Carlisle

"This doesn't make any sense." I murmured, watching through the kitchen window as Bella and Edward disappeared from sight. I waited until they would be out of hearing range before I went on. "Never have I seen anyone's gift affect them like this does Bella." The rest of the family was all gathered around, and Kate leaned against the doorjamb, her arms crossed, her golden eyes watching me. Tanya, on the other hand, stood at the far window, watching, just as I was, as Edward and Bella disappeared. I had to admit, I wasn't entirely comfortable having her here when she had so obviously had feelings for Edward…feelings my son didn't return. I doubted she would try anything with all of us around, nor had she been anything but friendly towards Bella, but I knew her presence made my newest daughter uncomfortable.

"That's not entirely true." Alice spoke up from her position in Jasper's lap. The two shared a barstool, with Jasper leaning back and Alice placing her elbows on the countertop. His hands wrapped around her waist, thumbs rubbing over her hips. They were worried about Bella. We all were. "When I was around the wolves, or when I tried to see the future for too long…basically any time I stretched my gift too far, it gave me headaches. Not to the extent that Bella suffers, but painful, nonetheless. And when that happened, I always stopped. I have no idea what would happen if I kept searching for a future and tried to push past the pain. Maybe it would become just as painful."

"Your gift always came naturally." Emmett reminded her. "All of ours did." He looked briefly to Jasper for conformation, and he nodded.

"Bella's gift is similar to Edward's in a way." Jasper theorized aloud, looking straight at me. I turned fully to face the southern fighter, my eyes skimming over the scars that marred his face, feeling the slight twinge of regret they always caused me. He had been through so much. Instantly the regret was erased, but only the slight turn of my son's lips and the warmth that flooded me let on to the fact that he'd felt it. "It's strictly mental. My gift actually affects the bodies and minds of others. Alice sees the physical future of others. Bella's is a gift of the mind. She can only shield gifts of the mind…." Jasper trailed off thoughtfully, but I was nodding.

"That's true. We don't have much experience with this kind of gift…not in our family. Edward's gift never caused him physical pain, however, while Alice's has."

"And mine…although, that was less my actual gift and more the effects." Jasper reminded me. "Negative emotions and positive emotions affect me equally. And it is possible for me to feel some level of exhaustion or depression if I am in an unpleasant atmosphere for too long." It was true. On days when we as a family were all stressed or upset, Jasper would often leave for a while, his eyes darkening and the pain obvious on his face.

"Every time Bella has suffered pain, it has been in a situation where she is using her gift past the point of comfort. Jasper, when she shielded you from Edward, she didn't feel any ill effects, but Carlisle, as soon as you were taken further away from her and Aro began to attempt to get past her defenses, she began to feel the pain."

"Then, in the forest, Bella didn't start really complaining until I was trying my hardest to get through her shield to harm Edward." Kate spoke up, her eyes narrowing as she thought along with the rest of us.

"So it comes from pushing her gift too far?"

"More like, when her shield is tested for an extended amount of time. She can hold it, but it gets painful."

It didn't answer all of my questions. The lingering tiredness, the way she seemed listless after such an episode…it didn't seem like anything I'd ever encountered.

"She developed a panic disorder." Rosalie spoke up. "She went through several traumatic events and lived through them…she had to sort all of her emotions out when she was still human, and she had multiple panic attacks. That this be a lingering effect?" I sighed softly, crossing my arms tightly across my chest where I stood, now beside Esme. It wasn't something I'd really wanted to think about. Somehow, I'd thought that part of her suffering would end once she was one of us.

"That is entirely possible." I allowed.

"So do we stop?" Kate wondered. "She may never be able to use her gift against some kind of prodding without the ill effects. It may always be painful and exhausting for her."

"Or maybe she'll get better as she practices." Esme suggested, touching my arm, and I felt myself soften as I placed my hand over hers. "Maybe she just needs less…intensive practice." Kate shrugged, looking at me for answers.

"I don't know anything for sure. As for the training, I believe that that is entirely up to Bella. If she wishes to continue, then we will support her. If not, the same applies."

"And if Edward does not wish for her to continue?" She wondered.

"That is between them. Edward doesn't have the right to forbid her anything, although I'm sure she'll listen to his opinion on the matter."

"Do you think the Volturi will attempt to take members of your coven again?" Tanya spoke up for the first time, and all eyes turned to her.

"They cannot force anyone to join them." I answered. If anyone wishes to join the Volturi guard, that is their decision." I would hate to see any member of my family lost to them, but I wasn't their master. "They have no reason to move against us. We have done nothing wrong."

"You allowed two humans to know our secret." She argued quietly, looking up at me with a strange expression. I bristled, and felt the rest of my family do the same. Before I could answer, Jasper did.

"We made a decision to let Bella's father and friend know that she was alive. They do not know what we are, only that Bella is not dead." I know that he, too, was thinking of those days, when Bella agonized over letting her father know that she was still alive…when Angela had been one of the only things that had brought her out of her depression…that constant state of anxiety she'd lived in.

"I'm sure the Volturi will see it that way." She commented lightly, and Emmett growled.

"Do you plan on telling them?"

"I think that Bella should be subject to the same rules as the rest of us. We leave our families and loved ones behind, for their own protection and ours. Humans shouldn't exist in our world…it never ends well. If the Volturi does somehow find out, you have condemned two innocent humans to death, and that is on you and Bella."

For a moment, there was silence, and then I moved forward, my eyes narrowed. "You are, of course, entitled to your opinion. But if you have a problem with my family or Bella, then you are welcome to leave." Kate gave her sister a look, lifting one eyebrow and shaking her head just a bit, and Tanya shrugged.

"It's your business what you do with the humans in your lives. I just hope you understand what the consequences will be should the Volturi learn of this. And I doubt they will be lenient towards you either if they learn that you've broken one of their laws." She had a point, one that I didn't want to think about. If Aro found out that Charlie and Angela knew anything about our secret, then they would be killed, and we would be, if not punished, then watched very closely for the next hundred years or so.

Edward

It was silent, apart from the soft sounds of Bella's breathing and the background nosies in the forest. It was so strange not to hear the inner voices of the one standing in front of me. Before, when Bella had been testing her shield on me, it had been incredibly disconcerting to be with Kate and yet not hear any of her thoughts. It was even more strange to have Jasper there, but be unable to hear him. Of course, my focus had been on Bella at the time, especially after I'd raced back to her side…when she'd been crying in pain. I was more worried about her than before…before it had been only her trouble with humans that had bothered me. It had upset her so much when she couldn't stand being near that woman in the store. Now, it was that, plus Tanya, plus her gift, plus the upcoming visit of her father and Angela. I knew that she wanted them at her wedding…but she'd barely been around humans. I would keep her from hurting them, as would the rest of my family, if the need arose, but if she even started to hurt them, it would break her heart.

She stood at the edge of the cliff. She'd ran ahead of me, and I'd fallen behind, keeping an eye on her but letting her have some time. We'd been running for almost a half hour, and were overlooking the ocean, but she hadn't stopped to hunt yet. I knew that her eyes were still black, underscored by purple shadows, but she was just as fast and strong as she had been since her change. She was staring out at the water in the distance, and down into the forests. There were some cats nearby, and I was sure she could have caught them if she wanted, but she remained where she was.

"Love, do you want to hunt?" I asked softly, remaining behind her, but moving closer. She didn't answer, her head moved slightly, letting me know that she'd heard me. "We could go somewhere else? Find some bears…there are some mountain lions around. Deer? Squirrel? Swan?" She turned to me with a soft, sweet smile at that, and I flashed to her side, taking her hand in mine. She leaned forward, pressing her lips to my cheek for a moment.

"I'm really not that thirsty." I pulled her closer, placing my arm around her and holding her to my side.

"It will make your eyes turn back to normal…you need the blood. They should be the same color as mine soon." I remarked idly, kissing the top of her head.

She nodded, turning her face up to kiss me, and I smiled as her heavy mood seemed to lighten. The next thing I knew, she had pulled away from me and was racing away, turning back to look at me with a grin before disappearing into the trees. I followed with a laugh, racing after her, and I quickly began to catch up to her. She had always been playful and happy with me…but now we could really play. We were equals now, and I loved every minute of it, despite all of the difficulties we were facing.

I found her kneeling on the ground, her long brown hair covering her face and the throat of the mountain lion that lay broken in her arms. The smell of blood reached my nose before I even saw her, and I chuckled softly as she drank eagerly. Her eyes flickered over to me, crinkling around the corners as she smiled. Had we been drinkers of human blood, she would have dropped the corpse and hissed at me, defending her dinner, even if we were mated. As it was, she pulled away from the cat's neck, tossing her hair over her shoulder and holding the dead animal out to me; an offering. I flashed over, kneeling beside her and placing my teeth where hers had been, drinking deeply. It wasn't fantastic, but it was my favorite out of all the animals and she knew it.

I moved my lips away from its neck, still smeared with a little of the blood, and moved my head, pushing my lips against hers. She laughed softly into the kiss, her tongue darting out to taste my lips, and her arms moved around my neck, pulling me closer. When I opened my eyes, I found her maroon ones staring into mine, and noticed that the red was starting to fade to honey-brown. She cupped my face in her hands, and I had to admit, the mood swings were giving me a bit of whiplash…not that I was complaining about her happiness. "I love you." I whispered. "I know it's hard right now, but I'm here…I won't ever leave you. You don't have to do this on your own."

"I know. I love you too. I just…I wanted to learn to use my gift…like the rest of you can."

"There's no rush. You know, for years, I had to physically stop myself from answering people's thoughts instead of their words. Jasper has trouble in intense emotional atmospheres. Alice can't always see the future….sometimes she gives herself headaches trying to see. Sometimes she misinterprets a vision…none of us are infallible. You're still very young. You have all the time in the world to master this. I know you worry about Aro…about the Volturi coming here, but you shouldn't. They won't hurt you…I"ll never let anything or anyone take you away from me."

For a moment I thought she was going to argue, but then her eyes softened, and she leaned forward, kissing me once more, this time lingering on my mouth. "You'll protect me?" She asked, her eyes playful and serious at the same time, and I rubbed a thumb under her eye.

"Always, my love. Always."

Once the animal was drained and Bella reminded me that he others were probably wondering about us (well, maybe not, since Alice could see us) we began to make our leisurely way back. We moved together, hands intertwined, her shoulder against mine as though suddenly didn't want to stop touching me. I understood…I had felt the same way about her only a few days ago when she'd returned from Italy. I knew that, back at the house, our family was probably still discussing her gift and the many possible reasons that it could be causing her so much pain. I wasn't exactly anxious to get back and subject her to that discussion, especially if Kate and Tanya were taking part. I couldn't help but feel upset with Tanya. No, it wasn't her fault that Bella had been in pain…well, it may have been, we didn't really know. It wasn't her fault that we'd asked her to help. But she was there, a convenient person to blame, and seeing Bella in the middle of the clearing, clutching her head and crying as she tried to shield me, had been surprisingly painful…even more so than when she had been in pain as a human.

Because now, she was strong. She was invincible…but there were still things that could cause her pain, and apparently, this gift was one of them. I hated it. I hated that, even though the times when I had to worry about her safety were supposed to be over, she was still capable of feeling such pain. And it wasn't like this was common. All I had to do was look at Carlisle's thoughts to know that. This was abnormal. My love's bad luck had followed her into this life. "Edward?" Bella continued walking through the forest but turned to look at me, which would have been a hazard, had she still been human, but as it was, she stepped easily over a tree root and moved gracefully even without paying attention. "Are you okay?"

"Just thinking." I told her simply, squeezing her hand more tightly. I didn't want to worry her, but I knew she wasn't fooled. "I don't understand why your gift causes you so much pain."

"Maybe Carlisle has some idea?" She guessed. I knew she hoped that was the case. She seemed to believe that Carlisle had the answer to everything, which was amusing and close to the truth, but also naive.

Carlisle had little to no experience with mental gifts like hers, other than my own, even if he'd met many vampires in his long life. He hadn't exactly been able to make a study of them, although I had a feeling that he would want to do so with Bella. And she would agree. Anything for her second father that had taken her in and that she loved so much. She would be happy to suffer to satisfy his curiosity. I cut the thought off, feeling guilty just for thinking it. Carlisle would never want to hurt Bella. I was just getting stressed at the thought of her hurting. "He may. We can ask him tonight." I agreed. Although we could have been back at the house in less than an hour, Bella didn't seem to be in any hurry, and I enjoyed walking with her. It was nice to just enjoy the walk…to not have to worry about her falling or tripping or getting injured…without worrying about the Volturi or other vampires or wolves or anything supernatural coming to harm her. For now, we could just be together. I could enjoy time with my mate, with my fiancee who would be my wife in less than two weeks. My wife! I could hardly contain my excitement at the thought. And then we would go together to Esme's island, and we would explore every inch of both the tropical paradise and each other.

Bella caught my soft smile and grinned, leaning up and kissing my cheek quickly as she walked. I hoped she was right. I hoped Carlisle could figure out what was going on with her gift, and I hoped that she was able to be around humans soon without guilt or pain, and I hoped that, just for a while, we could have time, free of danger, to enjoy one another.


	10. Chapter 10

Edward

Bella hummed softly as she ran the roller through the pan, then up and down the wall. She had wanted to go back out and practice some more with Kate after we'd fed, but I'd been able to talk her out of it, thankfully. Reminding her that we still had the room to paint had done the trick, although I had a feeling that it was more about appeasing me than any desire on her part to actually paint. Still, we'd started as soon as we'd returned, rather than talking to anyone else. I wanted some more time with her; just the two of us, and the others had seemed to sense this. Bella hadn't argued. Alice had picked a deep chocolate brown for one wall where she planned on placing my stereos and CDs, while the other three walls would be a calm green. Brown curtains and a brown bedspread completed the earthy looking room, along with green sheets. It reminded me of the island we would visit soon, and Alice assured us that we would love the finished product.

I dipped my own roller into the pan, keeping a close eye on her. She didn't seem to be exhibiting any side effects from her previous attack, if that's what it was, and she was humming the song I'd written for her under her breath as she painted. The rest of the family was around, mostly outside, hunting nearby or just giving us space. Tanya and Kate were out of range, as were Carlisle and Esme, but the others were nearby. Jasper and Emmett were wrestling, and Alice was sitting in a tree, watching. Rosalie sat on the ground nearby, legs crossed, thinking about Bella. I appreciated her thoughts, but remembering how much pain she'd been in was difficult. Vampires weren't supposed to feel pain like that.

"What do you think?" Bella stood back, one hand on her hip, the one holding the roller carefully keeping it over the pan so that none of the paint dripped onto the carpet. I placed my own roller into the pan, walking over to her and looping an arm around her waist. She smiled over at me, sighing happily when my lips met hers.

"I think you missed your calling love." I murmured, my fingers gently kneading the skin above her hips, making her giggle and squirm away. Still ticklish. I chuckled, kissing her once more and then pulling away. It was strange sometimes, how different touching her felt now. At first I'd tended to be too gentle, my fingers moving so lightly over her skin that it drove her crazy. She'd finally told me after pulling away for the umpteenth time, explaining that I was just tickling her. It had taken a week or two, but I'd finally gotten the hang of it. I pulled myself out of my thoughts then, really looking at the wall. We needed to finish before Alice decided to come back and finish for us.

"As a painter?" She rolled her eyes, dipping the roller into the paint once more. We had little tarps placed under the areas where we were painting, but we still had to be careful when working over the carpet. Not to mention, I hadn't missed the little finger-shaped indentions in the wood. It was still hard for her to control her strength at times. I pretended not to notice, moving back toward my own wall. Blue tape covered the crown molding, the baseboard, all of the power outlets, and the window, keeping them safe from the paint. We'd decided to make a day of it. Or rather, a night. The sun was beginning to set.

"Or an interior decorator." I offered lightly, practically able to hear her answering smile.

"Right. That would be Alice."  
"She actually has been an interior designer."

"Hm…how did that go?"  
"It was okay…she had fun, but she couldn't really work during the day, depending on the weather. It's annoying sometimes."

"Hm." I glanced back at her.

"Are you sure you don't want to hold off on this…talk to Carlisle." I could tell she was still upset about what had happened. I wanted to hold off on more practice for as long as possible, but I knew she would want to keep trying. Maybe we could wait until after the wedding…and the honeymoon.

"I thought you wanted to get the room done." The smile in her voice was obvious, and I grinned at her.

"I do. The sooner we get it done, the sooner we can put the bed back."  
"Yeah…and the sooner we put the bed back…" She trailed off, dropping the roller back into the pan, splashing just a drop of paint onto the tarp. She moved toward me slowly, her eyes bright and expectant. "…then what?" She wondered, finally reaching me and placing a hand on my chest, up by my shoulder, trailing it down slowly. I exhaled shakily, forcing the smile.

"Then…we'll be able to cuddle while we watch movies." She snorted, rolling her eyes and dropping her hand. She was amused, but I could sense her disappointment. Reaching out, I caught her hand, pulling her back to me. She let herself be pulled, putting her hands back on my chest and looking up at me. "Our first time will be on our honeymoon, and it will be memorable, not just something we do in our bedroom with our whole family listening." I murmured, stroking her cheek.

"It will be memorable, because it will be with you." She whispered, tiptoeing and placing a light kiss on my nose. But when she pulled away, she was smiling once more, her face light. "I'm looking forward to this mysterious honeymoon, even if you refuse to tell me anything about it." I shrugged, grinning unrepentantly.

"Sorry love. It's a surprise." I told her, tugging her back toward me and kissing her once more.

'You'd better stop making out and start painting, or I'll do it myself.' I rolled my eyes at Alice's thoughts, pulling away slightly.

"Alice is threatening to come and finish up herself if we don't get back to work." I mumbled lightly against her lips, kissing her again. She giggled, leaning in to kiss me once more before turning away, moving back over to her wall.

"Then we'd better hurry up." I groaned, dropping my arm with a sigh, then went back to my own roller. The quicker we finished this, the more down time we'd have during the night. Well, since neither of us was in school at the moment, we had plenty of downtime anyway, but Bella was still going back and forth between online classes and night school. Based on her reaction to the woman at the store, she was leaning toward online classes. I knew it was hard for her, but she would get better. It got easier over time, for all of us.

Carlisle came into range, followed quickly by Esme, and I was unsurprised to find both of their thoughts centering on Bella. 'I think what Jasper suggested may have some merit. Her panic disorder may somehow be affecting her in this life. Or it could just be a side effect of a gift we've never seen. Either way, I'd have to study it before I could know for sure, and even then…but I won't subject her to that. I can't. Maybe there's a way to test it, stopping before the pain becomes too much for her. Or maybe I can figure it out by just talking to her. But Edward was able to read her mind! Can he learn anything through that? It only works when she's using her shield.' His thoughts were scattered, going from me to Bella and back, then to the others, trying to figure out this new puzzle. I couldn't resent him for it…I was the same way. Still, I hated the thought of my fiancée being just another puzzle to solve.

Bella

Edward was scared. I hated it. The room was almost completely covered in the new paint, a break from the white and beige color scheme of the rest of the house, and the handle of my roller was covered in little indentions where my fingers had pushed too hard on the wood. I sighed softly, readjusting my grip and trying not to let it get to me. It took time. I'd accepted that. Mostly. Minus the blood part. That was still hard to come to terms with. I remembered the woman at the store and flinched a little, glad my back was to Edward. Still, he was perceptive. He probably noticed.

I felt fine. Normal. Well, normal for a vampire. After the initial…whatever it was with Jasper and Kate, I immediately began feeling better, and by the time we were back to the house, I was fine, minus the black eyes. That was still a little creepy. I had a feeling I would get used to it though. I just didn't want Edward to worry so much about me. He'd done it for so long already. Now that I was a vampire, he wasn't supposed to worry anymore. I was immortal and strong and there wasn't supposed to be anything, short of anther vampire, that could hurt me. But now, I had this gift that was more like a curse. I heard wood splinter and quickly released the handle

"Bella?"  
"Hm?" I forced a smile, turning and facing him. I could hear Carlisle and Esme talking downstairs, but no one had bothered us for at least an hour. He moved over to my side once more, placing a hand on my shoulder and glancing down at the roller that clattered to the ground.

"What's the matter, love?" He wondered, his thumb moving back and forth along the skin of my neck.

"Nothing." I lied easily. It was easier now. My face barely gave anything away, except maybe to my vampire boyfriend.

"Bella…"

"I just don't want you to worry about me." I murmured, turning to face him.

"I don't know if I'll ever stop worrying about you." He admitted, stroking my cheek. His skin was warm and soft now, but it still felt like electricity hummed just beneath my skin whenever he touched me.

"It's supposed to be a gift." I stared at the floor instead of his eyes, but he pulled my face up to meet his, cupping my cheeks in his hands. "It's a curse, Edward. What kind of gift does this to me? None of your gifts hurt…" I trailed off, my voice full of frustration, then backtracked when his eyes were full of pain. Of course he would blame himself. "Edward, this isn't your fault. I'm happy to share this life with you. I'm happy to be a vampire. You know that. I'm just…having trouble with my gift. I guess you all did at some point…didn't you?"  
"Of course. You know about how I struggled in the beginning. Jasper felt the effects of his gift when he lived with Maria, and Alice has trouble with her visions still. I agree though…none of our gifts cause us pain even remotely like yours." He nearly flinched at the word 'pain' and I squeezed his wrist, hoping he wouldn't get all angsty. He'd been so happy with me these last few weeks. I hated to think of him sad now because I couldn't learn to control my stupid gift quickly enough. Vowing to work harder, I leaned in, pressing my lips to his.

"Let's make the bed. We're nearly done with the room." If the subject change surprised him, he didn't show it, and his lips turned up against mine.

"Mhm…"

"And then…" I pressed against him, laughing silently when he moaned a little. "…once the bed is back in the room, and we've got clean sheets and our new comforter…" I ran a finger from the back of his ear, down to his neck, stroking what would have been his pulse point. He pulled me almost impossibly closer. "…we can cuddle and watch a movie." I pushed him away with a smirk, whirling and heading out to the hallway, ignoring the soft chuckles of Carlisle and Esme who were downstairs. Edward sighed, taking a moment to follow, and I couldn't help a dash of pride, ignoring my own frustrations. 'Honeymoon.' The word was beginning to mock me. I felt like I'd been waiting for years.

"So, what movie did you two want to watch?" I hadn't heard Emmett come in…then again, it was hard to focus on so many things at once when Edward's lips were on mine…or when I was thinking about finally having sex with my fiancé. Of course he would be around when I was thinking about sex. It was like my brother had a special radar.

"I don't remember inviting you." I quipped, grinning when he appeared on the stairs. "Unless you wanted to cuddle." He laughed, his booming voice filling the space easily.

"No thanks, Bells. If I'm going to be cuddling with anyone, it'll be Eddie here. He's lonely, isn't that right?" Before I could blink, Emmett had Edward wrapped in his arms, ignoring how my fiancé squirmed irritably.

"Will you let go?" Edward snapped, elbowing Emmett hard. Our brother ignored his efforts, not even flinching when Edward's elbow made contact.

"No, come on. I wanna pick the movie. Bells, you cuddle with someone else. Edward is mine." I rolled my eyes. If Edward wanted to postpone sex this badly, then he could put up with Emmett's teasing. Ignoring the two of them, I spun on my heels, making my way downstairs, feeling frustrated. Judging by Jasper's snort, he could feel it, and I wondered how I'd missed his entrance. The second floor was full of windows, and I picked one instead of the door, pushing it open and then taking a leap. Just a few weeks ago, this would have terrified me, and possibly killed me. Now, I easily landed on the grass, racing toward the tree line. The last thing I heard was Emmett swearing. "Is she really mad?" I didn't stick around to hear Jasper's reply.

I wasn't mad. I wasn't angry with anyone except maybe myself. I just needed a minute. Or a few. I needed to find Kate and talk to her. We had a lot to talk about. Like my stupid gift and how I could master it. If that meant trying harder and working through the awful pain, then I would do it. Whatever it took. But Edward would argue, so I needed to do this alone. Hopefully he got that. I needed a minute alone. I hated the emotional mood swings that came with being a newborn. I hated suddenly feeling furious and frustrated and closed in when I was with my family that I loved, and I hated this gift that made searing pain rip through my head whenever I used it. But I had to learn to master it, right? What if I didn't? What kind of vampire just ignored their gift?

"Bella?" Kate and Tanya stood in the clearing that I'd entered without thinking about it. They stood close together, obviously having a conversation that I'd interrupted, and I apologized softly.

"We thought you'd be with Edward." There was something in Tanya's tone that bugged me, but I chose to ignore it in favor of speaking with Kate.

"I want to try again."

"Alright…" She was watching me carefully, no doubt on the look out for a newborn temper-tantrum. The through made a hot wave of fury cut through me before I took a deep breath, smiling a little at her.

"I need to try again. Please."

"Of course. I did promise to help." She watched me for another minute, then glanced at Tanya who was staring at me strangely. I couldn't help glaring at her just a little. I didn't like Tanya. It wasn't my fault. She annoyed me, and at times, I resented her presence in our home. Still, she was a friend of the family, and it wasn't like I had a right to tell her to leave. But I could glare at her. She narrowed her eyes a little, stepping back just a bit. "Now?"  
"Yeah, but not here." I wanted to be away from my over protective family and the fiancé that watched me so closely and Tanya who just annoyed me. Kate glanced at Tanya, apparently sensing my emotions.

"Fine. Let's run for a while. Tanya, why don't you tell Carlisle where we've gone?" I shrugged, nodding in agreement, and Tanya did as Kate had asked. Hopefully the others would stay away and I'd have some time to practice, just the two of us, without anyone hovering.

I let Kate lead until we found ourselves past the fence and out in the woods, out of sight and out of range of the house…and Edward. I hated thinking of it that way. I loved Edward and I wanted to spend more time with him, but I couldn't right now. I wanted to do this alone. I had to do this alone. Once I got the hang of it, then we could practice together. Then he would have to feel that pain over and over again, and I wouldn't have to feel that awful guilt every time he bit back a cry of pain. She was hurting him. I was letting someone hurt him. I shook my head, turning to face Kate where she stood across from me.

"You want to do this alone." It wasn't a question, but I nodded anyway. "Then there's only one way we can do this."

I heard Edward before I saw him, of course. His smell hit me next. I could pick him out of a crowd any day…his scent was so unique and distinct to me, more than any of my family. I closed my eyes, shaking my head at Kate. For the last two hours, we'd been working. Since we didn't have anyone to practice with, we were working on my ability to push my shield out so that she could shock me. Of course, she barely used any of her power, so I barely felt a little tingle, but I was working on pushing it away for longer and longer periods of time, and was up to almost ten minutes when we heard Edward approaching.

Kate removed her hand and I let the shield snap back, leaning down and placing my hands on my knees. I was kind of tired, like before, but thankfully there had been no debilitating headaches. I felt more drained than anything, but after what had happened before, that wasn't so bad. At least nothing hurt. Edward was approaching from the opposite direction than the house, so I assumed he'd circled around, giving us time. I couldn't blame him. If he'd disappeared for hours at a time, I'd be worried and follow him too. Kate stepped away from me, moving over to where Edward was approaching, but I closed my eyes and tried to focus on my mind, letting the shield return to its normal place in my mind, wherever that was. "Love?" Edward sounded afraid. Why? Did he think I wanted to leave him? Did he think I could be so upset that I wouldn't want him?

"Yeah?" I asked, standing up fully and watching as Kate moved a little closer, her path almost intercepting his.

"I was worried…Emmett wanted to apologize to you, but I told him I'd come and find you first. He never meant to upset you." I shook my head with a small smile.

"He didn't really. Sorry. I just…I wanted to work with Kate for a little while. I didn't mean to worry you." Kate was still standing almost in Edward's path as he approached me slowly, but before he could reach me, he turned suddenly to Kate, looking confused. Suddenly, Kate's arm shot out, gripping his wrist fiercely. Edward's face contorted and a shocked cry escaped as his knees buckled, his body slamming into the ground, and still she held on as my vision turned red.

Someone was screaming. It took me a minute to realize it was Kate…but I could barely hear it over the furious growling that shook my entire body. Teeth bared, I felt dangerous. Truly deadly. My fingers wrapped around her throat as I held her down. Someone was yelling. It had to be Edward, but I didn't really think about it. All I knew was that Kate had hurt him. It was like I'd reached my end. I couldn't bear it. I couldn't bear to see Edward in pain over and over again because I couldn't protect him. So I'd put an end to it.

"Bella, stop!" Someone's arms were around my waist, but they couldn't move me. I was strong. I was deadly. My teeth were close to the female's neck. She'd hurt my mate. I would kill her. The sharp hiss erupted from my throat and the arms released me, then moved to my neck, but they couldn't stop me. I was going to kill her! Who she was didn't matter. Her name didn't matter. Her golden eyes went wide with fury and her foot swung up, catching me in the stomach and throwing me back. My body collided with the tree, snapping it in half, and both the twisted trunk and myself crashed into the forest floor. I jumped back up, dodging the one who tried to stop me, and winced when I was tackled once more, my head cracking against a rock that shattered like glass.

More voices joined the fray, but before anymore arms could try to restrain me, I was under the one that tried to hurt my mate and a sharp, horrible burning erupted in my shoulder. I screamed long and hard, pain and fury taking voice and echoing through the forest. It was almost my neck. If I hadn't jerked away at the last second, it would have been. Still, I felt that primal fear deep in my stomach. She could have killed me. I bared my teeth, jerking my head to the side and trying to catch her skin before the female was suddenly removed, the screaming voices coming sharply into focus. I leapt to my feet, lunging after her, but strong arms caught me before I could attack. "Enough!"

I knew that voice. That voice had never reprimanded me so sharply. The hands around me were tight…too tight, and I whimpered, squirming as I was restrained. They loosened immediately, but I fought the urge to escape again. Edward. Edward was holding me tightly to his chest, one hand on my stomach, one across my chest, thumb running over my shoulder where she'd bit me. Kate had bit me! I was breathing heavily, even though I didn't need the oxygen, but so was Edward as he kept me in the circle of his arms.

"What happened?" Carlisle's voice was cold and sharp and furious, making me shrink back a little, my eyes dropping to the grass in front of my feet. "Kate?" He snarled. Glancing up, I found her in Emmett's arms, his face dark like thunder, his muscles unyielding.

"We were practicing." She admitted. "She came to me! She wanted to do this alone." I felt the growl building but managed to fight it. "We were doing fine, and then Edward came. I thought it might help to catch her by surprise...I thought she would be able to protect him if I caught her off guard." The growl escaped this time, and Carlisle turned to me with a severe look. My furious eyes met his, and he softened a little.

"No more practicing alone." He told me quietly, looking between Kate and I. "In fact, no more practice for a few days." Edward's arms tightened just a little, and I didn't know if he was hugging me or restraining me. I didn't care. If he let me go, I was afraid that I would attack again, so I relaxed against him a little. "Kate, why don't you go hunt? Tanya, join her." It wasn't a suggestion. I hadn't even realized the other female was in the clearing with us, but glancing around, I realized that everyone was. The hiss escaped before I could stop it, but Edward wasn't letting go.

"Easy, love." He murmured into my ear, still stroking my shoulder. I tensed when Emmett released Kate, but the woman came nowhere near me, instead giving all of us a wide berth and disappearing into the forest. I stared after her for a long time, the clearing silent except for my still-ragged breathing. "Let me see." Edward broke the silence, his fingers moving to the still-stinging area on my shoulder, and I flinched.

"Kate bit her?" Carlisle's voice was incredulous and furious and I jerked away from him, still feeling the rush of fear and fury and too many emotions. I'd never been so angry before in my life. How hadn't he known? Or had he just heard us screaming and fighting. I wanted to scream. I was so angry I was shaking. "Jasper?" And then I wasn't. I was fine. Calm. I leaned my head tiredly against Edward, slumping against him and letting his arms hold me up. He did so easily, kissing my hair, and warm fingers touched the wound on my shoulder. It would fade a little, but I would have the scar forever. "This was close." He almost whispered, backing away. I couldn't figure out why he seemed so upset. I was perfectly calm and happy. I'd missed Edward. Now I was in his arms. I'd been worried about my gift. Now I was…fine. My brain didn't want to focus on that right now.

"Nice, Jazz. Don't you think you should ease up a little?"

"Any less and she'd go after Kate again." He told Emmett wryly. I had no idea what he was talking about. I couldn't imagine wanting to attack anyone.

"We're going back to the house." Esme now, her soft, gentle voice floating to me. "Edward, why don't you two stay out here for a while? When she's ready, come back to the house and we can all talk, okay?" I felt Edward nod, and then the calm was gone, along with my family. Looking up, I met Edward's dark, worried eyes, and I felt hot shame creep up from my stomach. Had I been human, I would have blushed. As it was, I couldn't meet his eyes until his thumb slipped under my chin.

"Bella?"

My eyes were hot. I hated crying as a vampire, but nothing I did could stop the sob, and I curled more tightly in his embrace, his arms tightening around me. "Sorry." I sobbed, hiding my face again. "I'm sorry…she hurt you…" He shifted, then stepped back, and before I knew it, we were sitting on the grass, me in his lap, my face hidden in his neck. "It's too much…I can't…" Edward didn't answer, stroking my back slowly as he rocked me back and forth.


	11. Chapter 11

Edward

I hadn't been able to catch the thought until she'd grabbed me and the pain had made my knees buckle. And then Kate had been yanked off of me, and I'd only see a flash of hair before Bella had been on top of her, snarling and growling, her teeth kept from Kate's flesh only by the failing strength of Kate's arms. "Bella!" I'd leapt up, racing over and throwing my arms around her waist, warring between my need to get her off of Kate and my fear of hurting her. She didn't even seem to notice me. Releasing her, I'd looped my arms around her neck, praying she released Kate before I really hurt her. I couldn't hurt her! But my arms looped around her throat barely made a difference. "Bella, stop!" I couldn't think about my fury with Kate…not yet. I had to make sure Bella didn't get hurt.

Suddenly Kate had gotten a knee, and then a foot up, planting it against Bella's stomach, and shoved. Hard. We were both thrown away, but Bella's body had slammed against a tree, breaking the tree into pieces and landing Bella's body against the ground, almost lifelessly, her head slamming into a rock that shattered upon impact. If my heart had been beating, it would have stopped, but before I could have really worried, she jumped back up, going for Kate again.

At that point, I'd heard my family approaching, and had tried to shout at her again, wanting to snap her out of it, but she and Kate were rolling, Kate just as angry as Bella now. "The hell?" Emmett's voice broke through first, followed by the others who froze in horror at the edge of the meadow. Kate had flipped Bella over, and I sprung back into action, but not before Kate's teeth went for Bella's neck…my fiancée was only saved by jerking away at the last second, and Kate's teeth had sank into my love's shoulder instead. Bella's scream had filled the clearing, echoing through the forest, her face crumbling as she'd cried out in pain.

At that point, Emmett had leapt into the fight, grabbing Kate and flinging her off of Bella, then racing over to restrain her, thick arms locking around her shoulders. Bella had jumped to her feet, lunging just as I'd managed to catch her again, and Carlisle's voice had echoed through the clearing, ending the fight immediately.

And now she was in my lap, sobbing. She'd squirmed in my arms, whimpering uncomfortably in my hold when I'd first caught her. I'd never held her too tightly before. I stroked her side as she lay in my arms, her face buried in my neck. Her words echoed in my mind. "It's too much. I can't." I placed my nose against her hair, breathing deeply. She was shaking. I ran a hand over her back, gently rubbing her sides. Had I hurt her? I had tried so hard to be careful.

"I'm here love. It's okay." She shook her head but didn't respond otherwise. I tired not to think about Kate. If I thought about her, I'd dump Bella on the ground and go after the now unwelcome visitor. "Talk to me. Please, Bella." I pleaded. She'd been crying for almost half an hour. It was killing me. I pulled away gently, cupping her face in my hands and looking into her wet eyes. "Shh, love. Talk to me, please." Her face only crumpled, her eyes closing and her teeth digging into her lip, and she slumped forward against me. "Did I hurt you?" I murmured, stroking her hair, one hand still at her side. She glanced up at me now, looking confused. "When I tried to stop you…did I hurt you?" She shook her head.

"No. Of course not."

"Can I see?" She nodded, leaning forward as I lifted her shirt up on the side, looking at her warm, soft skin, so much stronger now than before but still vulnerable to others like us. There were no cracks. Pulling her shirt back down, I put my arms around her once more. "I think it would be best if Kate left." I murmured, resting my forehead against hers. That was putting it mildly, but I was old enough to control my rage.

She wouldn't meet my eyes, instead biting down sharply on her lip until I placed a finger against her chin. "I'm sorry." She whispered finally, eyes still wet.

"What?"  
"I'm so sorry, Edward. I shouldn't have…I don't know why I…"

"Bella, why should you apologize?" I demanded, placing my hands on her shoulders and holding her at arm's length. "You acted on instinct. Everyone will understand."

"Carlisle was so angry." She whispered, and had she been human, I was sure her cheeks would be red with shame. Instead, she only stared down at the ground, hands tightly fisted in her lap.

"He was frightened…you could have been seriously injured in a fight like that. He was angry with Kate, yes, but only because she shouldn't have attempted to bite you. She's much older than you, and she knew better than to attack a newborn's mate. Your reaction was instinctual."

"She's our guest."

"I believe she's overstayed her welcome. If she can't behave appropriately, then we'll ask her to leave. They're making you uncomfortable, and Kate bite you. That's more than enough for me. You can't tell me that having Tanya here isn't unpleasant for you." She shrugged, obviously not about to answer that. "Are you ready to speak with the others?" She leaned against me once more, her head on my shoulder. Sighing, I held her closely, wrapping my arms around her waist. "Carlisle will not be angry with you." I whispered, placing my lips against my ear. "He couldn't be."

Carlisle

I couldn't remember the last time I'd been this angry. When I'd stepped into the clearing…and then watched as Kate had sank her teeth into Bella's shoulder…as soon as they returned from the hunt they'd only been sent on to get them out of my home, they were leaving. Back to Alaska. Wedding invitation rescinded. I wasn't mad. I was furious. Of course, Bella had probably started the fight, but Kate knew better than to take Bella away from the family and train with her. And then to bite her! On the throat! She could have killed her. Kate almost killed my daughter.

Emmett might have held her too tightly…I was pretty sure I'd heard something crack, but I didn't blame him. He was still fuming, having thrown himself onto the sofa so savagely that he'd nearly broken it, and there he remained. Arms crossed, teeth bared, he glared at whoever looked at him. Jasper was the same way, only he was a little calmer, thanks to his gift. It didn't seem to be touching Emmett, or me for that matter, but the entire house was filled with a cold, angry energy that seemed to wrap around all of us.

Esme stood beside me in the doorway to the kitchen, her fingers tightly laced with mine. Her eyes were narrowed into slits as she watched the door. I didn't know if she was waiting for Edward or Kate, but either way, she was ready for a fight. I was pretty sure she was angry with Edward as well, for letting things get so out of hand, even though I'd tried to convince her that Edward had not been aware of what was going on between Kate and Bella. The two had apparently snuck off to train together. Alone. After I'd insisted one of us always be present. How could Kate have let this happen? I needed to know the whole story, and that would mean talking to Bella who, last I'd seen, had been wild with fury…nearly incoherent with it. I knew the feeling. We'd all felt it as newborns, but I knew that she would soon feel the shame. I knew Bella. She would take this hard, especially after hearing me scream at her. But I'd had no choice. Had they been allowed to continue, Bella would have been hurt.

My real question was, how had Edward let this happen? How had he let his mate get away to train alone? How did he not even check on her! It made no sense to me! Had Esme suddenly run off, especially when she was a newborn and obviously upset, I would have at least checked on her. What if Bella had gone hunting? What if she'd come across a human and killed them? The thought made a chill go up my spine. That would have broken her heart, killing a human.

I heard them immediately when they came into range, glancing up and watching through the window as the pair made their way to the front door, hesitating briefly before stepping in. I flinched a little when I saw how Bella, her hand clasped tightly in Edward's, refused to meet anyone's eyes, but especially mine. Of course I was upset, with everyone involved, but she never needed to fear me. I hated the thought that anyone in my family would be frightened of me, no matter what they'd done.

'Have a seat, both of you, and try to calm her.' I told Edward silently, moving to a loveseat with Esme moving at my side. He nodded a bit, leading Bella over to the sofa across from me and putting an arm around her. Nothing like the snarling, furious newborn she'd been an hour ago, she folded herself gracefully onto the sofa, almost cowering under Edward's arm. He rubbed her shoulder, his arm covering the majority of her neck and throat, but I could still see the little silver bite mark that she would always have. Only a few weeks old and already she'd been marked.

I glanced over at Jasper who was staring at her, his eyes zeroed in on her neck, but it didn't seem like he was trying to calm her. Instead, he leaned forward in his chair, hands clasped and elbows on his knees. "You must realize that no one blames you, Bella." The girl finally looked up, eyes wide and almost frightened, then calming as Jasper soothed her. "Any one of us may have reacted in the same way had our mates been attacked."  
"It's true." Rosalie spoke up, leaning over the back of the sofa where Emmett was still stewing. "If she'd done that to Emmett, I'd have taken her out, gift or no gift. She was stupid to try that with you."

"I'll take her out for you if you want." Emmett snarled, suddenly sitting up, narrowly missing Rosalie's head when he swung his feet over the side and brought his head up. "What kind of stupid idea was that? Attack the newborn's mate?! And what's up with you, Edward? You're supposed to watch out for her!" I saw Edward flinch back, his arm tightening around Bella who still hadn't responded.

"I thought she could use some time alone." That he hadn't thought she would run off and train was obvious, but he must have known. "I cannot read Bella, and Kate is fairly adept at shielding her thoughts at me. When she came to touch my arm, all she was thinking was 'I have an idea to help Bella.' By the time enough pieces of her plan slipped through, she was already touching me." And we all knew how that had ended. "I went to bring her back to the house, or at least join her wherever she was. I thought she needed some time alone."

"I just wanted to be able to control it." I nodded, understanding Bella's point of view perfectly, and still disagreeing.

"Isabella, I warned both you and Kate not to train alone for this very reason. Many of your reactions are still instinctual, and the bond between mates is the strongest there is. A mated newborn will be especially volatile if their mate's safety is in anyway threatened. The form of training Kate was using was all leading up to this…which is why I should not have allowed it in the first place. Still, I thought maybe since you'd shown such great restraint…" I shook my head. "I am very much to blame for this. It seems that we've all forgotten just how young you are. So there will not be anymore training, especially not with Kate, until at least after you return from your honeymoon. Alright?" She nodded, lips pressed together as she took the gentle scolding.

'Edward, you know how I feel about this. You should have kept a better watch on her. She's your mate. You must protect her, especially now when she seems to be at her strongest. You are focusing so heavily on your desire to have the honeymoon you want that you are not thinking about what she needs.' I didn't go into any more detail than that, leaving him to work out the specifics. To everyone, I said, "When Kate and Tanya return, they'll be asked to go home. I suspect their presence will not be welcomed at the wedding?" I looked at Edward who scowled and shook his head. Bella was still staring at the floor. "Bella?"  
She hesitated, still not looking me in the eyes. "No. I don't want them there." She admitted, as though she were telling of some horrible crime she'd committed. Shaking my head, I leaned forward.

"Jasper was right. None of us blame you for how you reacted, although I wish you hadn't gotten yourself into the situation in the first place. Kate showed incredibly poor restraint, going after you the way she did, even after being provoked, and the rest of us should have watched these sessions more closely. You don't have to apologize for not wanting someone at your wedding, especially under these circumstances." Nodding, she crossed her arms tightly. The two stood after I did, heading upstairs to their bedroom, hopefully to talk about where things stood between them, while the rest of us waited for Kate and Tanya to return. I didn't want things to come to blows again, so I decided to tell them myself, minus the interference from Edward who might decide to exact some revenge.

Alice

Visions were spotty. I didn't know why…maybe something to do with erratic newborns with shields and mood swings and hit-or-miss control issues. Or maybe it was my brother, whose decisions changed so many times in a day that it left me dizzy. At one moment, he was resolved to just take her, possibly in the living room, the next he was reminding himself that he was a 'gentleman' and all that crap. Whatever. Jasper was the most southern gentlemen I knew, and that never stopped him from making me happy…in every possible way. I grinned a little smugly. Jasper made me very happy.

Still, everything involving Edward and Bella was a little blurry at the moment. Sometimes things went exactly as planned: beautiful wedding, happy Charlie and Angela (when Seth and Leah weren't around) and then a long, beautiful honeymoon where they spent a considerable chunk of time in bed. But every once in a while, the vision would change every so slightly in the most horrible way. Beautiful wedding. Beautiful honeymoon. And then Charlie and Angela…two headstones, telling passerby's that they had died in the same year, on the same day. Only a few months from now. Bella, crumpled on the ground, arms around herself, sobbing tearlessly…and Edward, hovering, trying so hard to help and being rebuffed at every turn.

But just as soon as the vision would come, it would disappear, leaving Bella smiling with bright, wet eyes as she held first Charlie, then Angela's hands so many years later, both old and wrinkled and clasping her hand gratefully. Saying goodbye. The two swirled around, mixing with others, making it almost impossible to pick one out. I wouldn't bring it up, not until it stuck around for a while. The date on the headstones changed, sometimes not even visible to me, so that was nothing to go on. We would just have to watch them carefully. Very, very carefully. I'd try to keep tabs on them until after the wedding.

I hadn't seen the event with Kate either…not until it was happening. At first, in my visions, Edward had just brought her home, talking briefly with her about training alone, and then going on with life. And then, when the rest of us had been scattered around the house, I'd seen it. A terrible fight, teeth ripping into skin and screaming and clawing. In the distance, at that very moment, we'd all heard the familiar scream. "Bella!" I'd cried, jumping out the closest window, and the rest of my family had been hot on my heels, Carlisle overtaking me at one point.

At one point, in my mind, I'd watched as Kate had sunk her teeth into Bella's neck, ripping viciously, and watching Bella's head roll away from her body which sank lifelessly into the ground. That was too close to dead for us! Of course, any body part could be reattached, as our bodies would go to almost any lengths to repair themselves, but then Edward was the one who had to repair her broken body, placing her head carefully by her neck, his venom sealing the skin again. Her fluttering eyes…vampires couldn't sleep, but that was probably the closest thing to passing out for us. Terrible pain rendering us immobile and unaware, just like the venom. And then Edward's arms around her, refusing to let go…his absolute terror at what almost was.

"They're coming." I informed Carlisle from Jasper's lap, resting my head against his shoulder. The rest of us were waiting, Carlisle especially. He was eager to have them out of his home. Upstairs, I could hear the two of them sitting on their bed and could imagine that Bella was in Edward's arms. The two weren't talking. I tried to look again into the future. Angela and Charlie's future continued to fluctuate, with Bella's reactions changing as well, but every time they were somehow killed, she was devastated, pushing everyone, especially Edward, away as she curled up on the ground, inconsolable. I tried to focus on something else, but the sharp exhale from upstairs told me that Edward had seen. I sighed. 'I don't know for sure what's happening.' I told him silently. But of course he was probably obsessing, especially since the last image had been Bella on the ground in a ball, rocking back and forth as she'd sobbed, shoving Edward away when he tried to hold her, his eyes hollow and devastated.

He was silent though…he wouldn't want Bella to stress about whatever this vision was about. Hopefully we'd be able to prevent it…either way, I couldn't see him talking to her about this. I didn't want to either. It would freak her out too much. She had enough to worry about. The front door opened, distracting me from my search through the future and jolting me back to the present. Tanya looked irritated while Kate seemed more sheepish than anything.

"We'll go." She told us simply. "I wanted to apologize to Bella and Edward, but I understand if they don't wish to speak to me. So we'll go. The wedding present will be in the mail." When Carlisle only nodded, Tanya hissed irritably, and my husband tensed beside me.

"You invited us here. Bella asked Kate for her help…you asked for her help, Alice! We did what you asked, and now you're kicking us out?" She snarled at Carlisle who only stared back coldly through her spiel.

"You were invited here to attend Bella and Edward's wedding." Jasper corrected her. "We never imagined you would be so unrestrained, even in the situation that occurred…which was your fault by the way." He reminded her. "What made you think attacking a newborn's mate in front of her was a good idea?"

"I thought it would activate her shield…if Edward was in danger, I thought she would react involuntarily."

"She reacted involuntarily alright. And instinctively. Like a newborn." Emmett snapped. "You know how old she is. You had to know how she would react." He was taking this fairly hard…then again, we'd all been frightened to see Bella so close to being decapitated, especially by Kate who we'd trusted with her training. Carlisle was right though. We should have known better than to let her train alone with Kate. I should have watched her more closely.

"We are sorry for how things worked out. Maybe in a few years, you could visit again." Esme tried to smooth things over a little, even though she was just as upset as the rest of us. Esme would do anything to keep her family happy and together, and Bella was her family. She hated the thought of Bella being harmed, just as much as she hated the thought of any of the rest of us being harmed. She would choose Bella over Kate and Tanya any day.

"Yeah, we're sorry too." Tanya snapped. Tossing her hair, she spun on her heels without another word, leaving Kate behind as she stormed out of the house.

"Sorry." Kate murmured, her arms crossed almost defensively across her chest. "I should have been more careful. I apologize for the trouble I've caused your family, Carlisle." He softened a little, but only nodded, arms crossed. He was still angry. I couldn't blame him. We were all angry.

Suddenly the vision returned, making me miss her exit. Bella knelt in an empty cemetery, the sky overcast and threatening to rain. I couldn't read the dates on the headstones, or even the names, but I knew, from previous visions, whose they were. Her arms wrapped around herself as she rocked back and forth, sobbing pitifully. Behind her, Edward knelt, reaching out to touch her. She jerked away, leaning away from him, and he pulled away with practiced sorrow, his own arms limply at his sides, head hanging down to his chest.

Upstairs, Edward hissed softly, desperation and sorry in the single sound that Bella didn't respond to. She hadn't said a word since they'd gone upstairs, and I looked over at Jasper nervously. I hadn't told anyone about the vision, but I had a feeling we'd better discuss it with the family. Thinking on the last reoccurring vision I'd had about Bella, we'd better start preparing. It seemed like Bella couldn't catch a break, even as a vampire.


	12. Chapter 12

Bella

I was always happy to sit in Edward's lap. It was my favorite place to be…in his arms, pressed against him, knowing that I was safe and loved…that he loved me above anyone else in this world. I loved him so much. Despite all of this pain and fear and sorrow that I felt about my gift and Tanya and Kate and even the residual shame from what I'd done just a few hours ago, the most prominent emotion was love for the man that held me, his fingers absently rubbing over the place where Kate had bitten me. It didn't hurt anymore. Thankfully. That had been surprisingly painful. But the scar would never fade.

Downstairs was quiet. Much too quiet. Which meant either everyone was still upset or that they wanted to talk about something. Something unpleasant. I tucked my face into his neck, admittedly hiding a little. He smelled so comfortable and familiar and wonderful. "I love you." I murmured. I felt like I didn't say it enough. I didn't tell him often enough how much I truly loved him.

"I love you too." He answered, but I wasn't satisfied. Leaning back a little, I shook my head and cupped his face in my hands.

"No. Edward. I love you." I told him, pouring my heart into my words, hoping he saw in my eyes how much I meant it. "More than anything. No matter what. Yes, I'm scared about my gift and my control and whatever is going on downstairs, but more than any of that, I love you." His eyes went soft, and he leaned his forehead against mine.

"You are my entire life, Isabella. I love you so much…I would be lost without you. My beautiful..." He kissed me. "…wonderful." He kissed me once more, letting his tongue touch my lips ever so slightly. "…amazing fiancée. Soon to be wife." I would have blushed had I been human, but as it was, I only lowered my eyes in pleased embarrassment. "I hate that this gift causes you pain…that even in this life, you seem to attract trouble, but I am so happy to have you with me….truly with me, my equal, strong and so much less breakable." He stroked my face. "As for what's going on downstairs, perhaps we should go down and speak with the rest of the family."

"What has Alice seen?" I asked, biting down on my lip, an old habit that I carried over into this life. I could usually tell when Alice had seen something troubling, and I had a feeling this was one of those times.

"Let's go down and speak with her. I'd rather you hear it from her." I frowned, catching the pained expression in his eyes, and started to grow wary.

"Edward…"

"It's not something we have to worry about just yet. Okay?" I nodded, trusting him as I stood easily from his lap, reveling briefly in my new grace, then took his hand, pulling him playfully to his feet. He smirked, kissing me quickly, and we walked together out of the bedroom and down to the living room where the others waited.

Emmett was angry. It was strange to see him angry like this, but he sat on the sofa beside Rosalie, arms crossed, eyes narrow. Rosalie glanced up at me, her smile brief. Jasper grinned easily at me, his expression untroubled, but I couldn't trust his emotions; he was too good at masking them. Alice was looking at me carefully, glancing between Edward and me. She was the one I was watching, trying very hard not to meet Carlisle or Esme's eyes. I still felt too much shame and even a little fear when I remembered his voice in the clearing. I didn't want to hurt them, but I couldn't bear to talk to them yet. First, I needed to hear what Alice had to say. I needed to know what was going on. I clutched Edward's hand, feeling nervous in front of my family for the first time in a long time.

A little bit of calm touched me, and I managed to glare at Jasper, a warning in my eyes. I didn't want to be calm. I wanted to be alert…ready for whatever Alice was going to reveal to those of us who weren't Edward. "I have a vision of Charlie and Angela…dead." She told me simply, and Edward's hand clutched mine tightly as if waiting for me to…something. React somehow. But I only stood stock still, teeth clenched.

"How?"

"I suspect…the Volturi. They somehow find out…"

"Tanya." I snarled, not even surprised at the pure, unadulterated hatred in my voice. Edward stroked the back of my hand with his thumb, his eyes also hard.

"We can't know for sure. Bella…you knew this was a possibility." And there it was. Her voice was gentle, holding no reprimand, but I knew. This was my fault. I'd done this. I'd endangered not only my new family, but my old one. This was my fault. The Volturi would come, and both of my families would be eliminated. I'd only been a real member of this family for a few weeks, and in that time, I'd managed to ruin everything. I'd had to have them in my life. I'd insisted that I be allowed to keep my old life too, because why should I have to make the same sacrifices as everyone else. Edward was wrong. I was selfish. Selfish and thoughtless and not worthy to become a member of this family.

Whatever her motives, Tanya was going to tell the Volturi…or she was thinking about it, and…I stopped there. I couldn't form a plan. Not now. Alice would know. Nodding to Alice, I squeezed Edward's hand. "What can you see?"

"It changes." She admitted. "But…you're inconsolable in every vision when Charlie and Angela die." I could shield my thoughts from Edward, but would I ever get to the point where I could shield my decisions from Alice? I focused my shield, using every ounce of willpower to pull it in tighter against me, and decided to go take a shower. Right now. Leaving the conversation. Alice looked up at me abruptly and Edward glanced over with a frown, obviously having seen that thought. I changed my mind, deciding to stay, to lean against Edward for strength. It wasn't a show I was putting on. If I was going to fix this, I would have to keep him out of it. If the Volturi came anyway….they couldn't have him. Besides, this was my mess. Not his.

He draped an arm around me, lips gentle on my hair. "I'm going to keep an eye on Tanya, okay? I promise. The second she decides anything, I'll tell you and we'll make a plan." Yeah, they'd make a plan. A plan that would involve endangering everyone I loved. Again. All because of my choices. The shield training….how I'd insisted on continuing that, despite the worries of everyone else. Antagonizing Tanya and Kate. It was all my fault. I wouldn't be the end of this family.

"You don't need to worry, Bells." Emmett murmured, his posture still angry, but his eyes softening a little. "We're not going to let anything happen to Charlie or Angela." And that was the problem. They were going to fight this battle for me, when I should have been the one fighting for myself….for the people that I'd put in danger.

"Bella?" I glanced up at Edward, realizing that I hadn't said anything in a while. Carlie sat at my feet, looking up at me anxiously, and I used every single one of my acting skills to smile at her, reaching down to pick her up and give her a cuddle. She was getting big. Happy now that she was in my lap, she lay her head on Edward's leg and thumped her tail, rubbing against his hand when he rested it on her head.

"How long do you think we have before you know for sure?" I wondered, looking straight at Alice. She shrugged.

"A few days? A week? I can't be sure until it happens." She told me, her voice still too gentle. They shouldn't have been so understanding and kind to me. I deserved anger. I almost wanted Rosalie to turn around and tell me how selfish I was…how I was risking so much by my actions, that I didn't belong to this family.

I noticed the others leave, but I didn't say anything until Edward was stroking my cheek, his eyes painfully worried. I did that. I was the one that made him afraid. "What are you thinking?"

"This is my fault." I murmured, being truthful. She shook his head fiercely, but I knew no amount of persuasion could change my mind on this one.

"Bella, this is not your fault. You had no way of knowing that Tanya would betray us." It was useless to argue. Besides, it might clue him into what I was trying to plan, and that would ruin everything. He would argue. The family would argue. Carlisle would probably not straight out forbid it, but he would be upset with me, and he was already upset enough with me, something I hated to think about. No matter what he said, I couldn't help the fear that he was angry. He should be. I was irresponsible and completely selfish. "Please don't be upset." He whispered, his eyes so earnest and afraid that I couldn't help but comfort him.

"I'm sorry…you're right." I told him, hoping my smile reached my eyes. "I shouldn't worry so much. It'll be okay, right?"

"Of course." He leaned his forehead against mine, stroking my face, Carlie forgotten in my lap. For a moment, we sat together, and I tried to think of a way to plan this without giving myself away. His eyes were on mine the whole time, trying to delve into my mind that I was purposely keeping shut off from him. I averted my eyes to his lips, only feeling a little bad about using this to distract him. "I love you so much." He whispered. I thought about our conversation of only a few minutes ago.

"You are my entire life, Edward." I murmured, meaning it fully for the first time. I would give up everything for him. Charlie and Angela and anything else from my human past. I would miss them so much, but I didn't need them like I needed Edward. I had to let go. But first I would need some help. He smiled softly at me, recognizing the words, and kissed me hard, gently nudging Carlie out of my lap as he pushed me back onto the sofa, and for a long time, I focused only on the feel of his body against mine…the old desires coming back to the surface as he held me tightly. It felt so good to be caged in his arms…like nothing could ever hurt me. I was untouchable here, utterly safe. But soon I would have to leave his arms for his own good, so I soaked up the affection I could get from him now.

He still seemed worried, and I realized I was clinging to him, but I couldn't help it. I hated being away from him. He stroked my back, trying to calm but, but I only clutched him as tightly as I could without hurting him, eyes closed as I told myself I wasn't going to start crying. I had made this mess and I had to clean it up. It was time to start acting like a Cullen, and that meant responsibility.

Edward

This was torture, but in a different way than usual. It was always hard to hold her so closely and stop at that, but this was different. Now, Bella clutched me almost too tightly, her body tense as she held onto me as if for dear life. I tried to calm her…to tell her not to worry, but I had a feeling that something more was wrong. She was frightened. But why? What would scare her like this? I thought back suddenly to when I'd left her, unsure of why my mind went there. Did she feel guilty about this perceived 'trouble' she'd caused us? Did she think I would leave her? My stomach seemed to try and turn itself inside out at the thought. As if I could leave her now! The thought was painful and ridiculous at the same time, but she couldn't read my mind any better than I could hers.

"Love, we're going to get through this. Together. I swear, nothing will take you away from me." I was horrified when her body shook a little, a sob escaping, and I tightened my grip. "No. Love please…don't cry. Nothing is going to happen. Alice will see….she'll keep a watch on Tanya, and Charlie and Angela will be fine. Please. I love you so much." Leaning back, I kissed under her dry eyes, then her eyelids, moving down her cheeks, following the trail of her imaginary tears. "Please don't be afraid. I'll protect you. Nothing will ever harm you." I would do anything to keep that promise. I had always done my best to protect her, and that wouldn't stop now, no matter how strong she was.

"I know you will." She leaned up, her lips meeting mine too briefly. "I love you too." That smile on her lips didn't come anywhere close to her eyes. She was still sad and afraid. For a moment, I was tempted to just forget the wedding and the honeymoon and make love to her here on the sofa, but I didn't want our first to be like this…borne out of sorrow and fear. I, perhaps foolishly, wanted to wait for perfection…for us both to be happy and single mindedly in love. I wanted joy and fireworks and a full night of isolation with just the two of us on an island together, far away from humans and other vampires and danger. I just wanted her.

For the rest of the night and into the day she was like this. Quiet. Sticking close to me. Closer than usual. Everywhere I went, she seemed to trail after me, and Carlie trailed after her. We were like a sad, strange parade. Everyone noticed, but only Emmett commented. "What, are you suddenly glued to his butt?" I'd flinched at the expression on her face before I could even begin to reprimand him for such a crude, seemingly cruel statement, and Emmett had instinctually shrunk back a little. Her teeth bared, she'd snarled at him, just as angry as she had been with Kate, but a little embarrassment had been mixed in, making me furious. How dare he mock her for being upset and frightened. I'd snarled a sharp curse at him, taking her hand and leading her outside where she seemed the most comfortable, sitting on the deckchair and pulling her onto my lap, Carlie immediately climbing up on hers as though she too sensed something was wrong.

An hour later, when the sun was at its highest and Bella still hadn't moved, Emmett came outside, dropping down beside us on the deck. "Hey, Bells? I'm sorry. I was just playing…I didn't mean to hurt your feelings." She shrugged, her eyes still closed as she nestled against me. "Bella?"

"It's fine, Emmett." She snapped, her hand tightly in mine, and his eyes widened. Our brother stood, obviously taken aback, and gave me a bewildered look.

"What the hell? What's wrong with her?" Jasper appeared in the doorway, looking at the three of us curiously, but I only gave a little shrug. How should I know, I wondered. It wasn't like I could whisper without her hearing anymore. Shaking his head, Emmett backed away, heading into the house with Jasper where they would no doubt discuss this strange development.

We spent a large part of the day out in the yard, playing fetch with Carlie or just sitting together. Every time I would glance at Bella, her eyes would be far away and sad, her fingers absentmindedly playing with her engagement ring, but every time she caught me looking, the wall would go back up, and she would turn with a smile for me. It made me want to scream in terror. What was she thinking? What had I done? What was she planning? According to Alice, nothing. No decisions were being made. But she was shutting me out, and I couldn't understand why.

She left my side for the first time as the sun began to set and Carlisle asked me silently to come to his office to talk. Of course, Bella would have been welcome to come, but she only shook her head at the invitation, smiling softly and kissing me before heading upstairs to our bedroom. Figuring she just needed some alone time, I stepped into my father's office, taking a seat when he gestured to the chair across from him.

"I know you're worried about her." He told me softly, leaning forward. "Do you have any idea what's going on?" I shook my head.

"She wouldn't leave my side all day. She's scared of something." He sighed deeply.

"She won't even look at me, much less speak to me. After what happened with Kate…it's like she's afraid of me." His sadness was obvious, and I longed to comfort him.

"I think she's still shocked about how that ended…she could have killed Kate. She's still young, and she's having a hard time adjusting to her gift…and everything else. Add to that the problem with Charlie and Angela…" He nodded, obviously having thought of that.

"She must know that we wouldn't let Charlie or Angela come to any harm if it was in our power to prevent it."

"Do you think she'll talk to Esme?" I wondered. She'd grown quite close to our mother in the last few weeks of her human life…a closeness they'd maintained even if she spent much of her time with me.

"Honestly? If she won't speak to you, I don't know if she'll speak to any of us, but we can try." I nodded. Maybe…the vision hit me before I could finish that thought, and I stood abruptly, turning and running to our bedroom. Alice stood outside the door, eyes sad and sympathetic all at once. I pushed past her, throwing our door open only to find Bella zipping a small suitcase, a purse draped over her shoulder. She never wore a purse. She hadn't bought a single thing since coming to England, but now she was stuffing cash into a wallet and a toothbrush into the tiny compartment on top of the suitcase.

I went for lightness. I could barely speak around the lump in my throat, but lightness I could somehow manage. "Where are we going?" I wondered, aware of my entire family listening in, anxious now that they knew what was going on.

"We aren't going anywhere. I'm going to see Charlie." She told me simply, refusing to meet my eyes. That relieved me just a little. At least she was telling me…what could have possibly happened though, in the last ten minutes, to cause this decision?

"Oh…why?" I wondered, then immediately wished I could take it back. She didn't react though, only zipping the compartment on top of the suitcase.

"Because I want to see him." Her voice was almost void of emotion, and it rocked me to my core.

"I'll come too. I'd love to see Charlie before the wedding." I started to step inside the room…our room. The room we'd just painted together. But she shook her head.

"I'm going alone."

"Bella…" I murmured, reaching out to her, but she didn't move toward me. She wouldn't even look at me. "I hate the thought of you going somewhere alone." I tried. If I could just get her to talk to me…to look at me! She refused. "Please."

She moved past me quickly, not letting me reach out to catch her. "I want to go alone." She told me simply. I reached out then, finally catching her hand, and for a moment, she stiffened. In Alice's mind, I saw her look down, her lip firmly between her teeth. But then she stiffened, jerking away from me for the first time.

"I don't want you with me." And then she was gone, flying out the door, and I stood stock still until I could no longer hear her feet on the driveway, suddenly understanding for the first time how she'd felt when I'd left her after her birthday party. I let my knees hit the ground.


End file.
